Not all crooked or misaligned teeth require full braces to treat. In cases where it is just a couple teeth out of alignment, an appliance can be used to push or pull those teeth into the right position. This can be done for both adults and children. After appliance therapy in adults, and in some cases for children, some form of retainer is required.

For this specific case, the patient had braces in the past, but stopped wearing her retainers when they started to break down. As a result of not wearing retainers, some teeth started to move back towards their old positions. Fortunately this was caught early and a simple appliance was used to push the teeth back into place. After a couple months of wearing the appliance, the teeth were straight again and Invisalign Vivera Retainers where then made to hold the teeth in place and prevent future relapse.

Interceptive Orthodontics – Children

As the adult teeth start to come into place, they may not do so in the ideal positions. Or, the jaw structures may not have grown enough to permit room for all the adult teeth to come in properly. To help minimize the need for future braces and jaw surgery, appliances can often be used to help guide the growth of the jaw. By creating more room for the teeth early on, and allowing them to grow into their more ideal position naturally, future orthodontic needs are drastically reduced and long term stability is significantly increased.

Although many interceptive orthodontic techniques use different types of appliances, other techniques may involve strategically timed extractions, or partial braces. The technique used is very much guided by the specific case requirements, but dentist/patient preferences do come into play so be sure to ask lots of questions if you are looking into interceptive orthodontics.

Regardless of which technique is used, interceptive orthodontics can be a key component in your child’s long term health and wellness.