Addressing these issues while your child is still growing and developing may help prevent your child from having complex and lengthy treatment plans once their adult teeth have emerged. Getting started early can also help save you time and money down the road.
At that first visit, we will evaluate your child’s teeth, gums, jaw, facial profile, and oral hygiene. We will also assess proper growth and development of the jaws. X-rays may be taken if recent ones are not available or do not provide the correct angles necessary for evaluation. We will explicitly look at tooth position, bite and jaw alignment, and the overall aesthetic proportions of the face. We may recommend early treatment if any issues are noticed.
Additionally, if your child displays any of the characteristics below, please schedule a complimentary orthodontic evaluation with us.
Three common malocclusions (bite problems) are crossbite, crowding, and impacted teeth.
A crossbite exists where the top teeth and bottom teeth do not come together in the correct position. Instead, the upper teeth fit inside the lower teeth when the mouth is closed. A posterior crossbite occurs when the upper back teeth sit inside of bottom back teeth; an anterior crossbite occurs when one or more top front teeth sit behind the bottom front teeth. It is important to correct crossbites around age 9 to prevent asymmetric growth of the jaw.
Overcrowding of teeth occurs when there is insufficient space in the mouth for the permanent teeth to grow straight, which can cause bite misalignment and blocked out incoming permanent teeth.
An impacted tooth is a tooth that does not fully grow above the gums and is trapped in the jaw bone, typically as a consequence of overcrowding. When the jaw is too small to accommodate all the incoming permanent teeth, or a tooth is growing in the wrong direction, tooth impaction often occurs. When this problem is not recognized and intercepted in the early stages, oral surgery may be required in order to bring the tooth into the mouth. Here at Bloom Pediatric Dentistry, we prefer a preventive approach with the most minimally invasive treatment options!
We provide many different orthodontic treatment options which are personalized to the specific situation of each patient. There are times when several options may be available, while some treatments may have only one. Each plan is based on the patient’s age, their activities, the underlying orthodontic issue being treated, and other factors such as cost.
It is important to remember that orthodontic treatment is a service and not a product. When people purchase orthodontic kits that allow them to perform orthodontic treatment at home, without professional supervision of the ongoing treatment, they are taking on risks that their teeth, mouth, and bone structure may not respond as anticipated. Further, at-home treatment does not begin with a comprehensive orthodontic evaluation. No x-rays are taken, overlying issues are not addressed, and a professional assessment is not made to include various personalized solutions. On the other hand, undergoing orthodontic treatment by a trained professional will allow comprehensive treatment options to address the issues at hand. Should unexpected problems arise during treatment, through ongoing follow-up, adjustments to the treatment plan can be made as necessary.
Dr. Nelson Hui is a Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist. He earned his Doctorate of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, and Certificate of Pediatric Dentistry at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Ethics, empathy, and excellence play a large role in the way Dr. Nelson practices dentistry. He is a proponent of minimally invasive dentistry and strongly believes in meeting children where they are, while rendering the highest standard of care.
Dr. Yip earned her Bachelor’s degree in Science from the University of Texas at Dallas before attending Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she graduated with her degree in Dental Medicine. She has been in the dental field for over 20 years, starting as a dental assistant in 2003. Her draw to dentistry comes from her LOVE of building relationships with people.
