What Age Do Orthodontists Usually Intervene?

My 8 year old doesn't have braces yet but he does go to the orthodontist once a year his problem can't be corrected yet but there are several instances where they can do things now to help minimize the amount of time they will need braces.

Good question. I wonder the same thing.

Per Andrea G. below and retainers:
This is my personal experience on that....
Yes, the teeth will not shift back, IF you wear the retainers after the braces are off. BUT you need to wear it every night... and in my case, I am NOW an adult... and I STILL have to wear my retainers every night... otherwise my teeth shift. I wore braces when in 7th thru 9th grade.

My current Dentist, said, teeth and the mouth are NOT static... they shift and as a person gets older... and with aging.... the structure AND bite of the mouth changes... and the jaw grows, and the teeth/jaw have "memory" and tend to move back... without retainers, etc. So, even if the teeth are "straight", the mouth structure... is not static. It moves. It shifts.

I... have to STILL wear retainers at night. Which as an Adult, I had to get newly fitted retainers... because the old ones after all these years, fell apart/broke...but I still need to wear them.

Something to consider....
I do not... believe in "braces" whole heartedly... for certain situations.

Braces is more widely used in the USA... versus say other countries. It is either cosmetic or necessary per jaw/teeth problems. But it seems to be a 'mandatory' thing, kids 'have to' get as a young child... and the requirements for it is getting younger and younger. And insurance does not cover it. It is either a 'have to' thing or an optional thing... per straight teeth or not. Unless there is underlying jaw/teeth problems structurally.

all the best,
Susan

Contrary to what some moms said, you do not have to have all your permanent teeth to begin orthodontic work. My daughter (22) was in third grade when she did a palate expander (which was well worth it) and then braces. Later she had more braces when all the permanent teeth were in. Her dad had the same crooked teeth when he was a kid and had to have 8 pulled just so they'd all fit in his mouth. So the palate expander was an excellent alternative to that. Ask around for recommendations for an orthodontist. We found a great one through friends.

My son was in 2nd grade when he started with a palate expander retainer. I started taking him to the dentist when his baby teeth started falling out. They did a panoramic xray to see how his adult teeth were developing and it looked like a major traffic jam in there. He began with braces in 4th grade and will be finished with them before 6th grade ends.
I'm so glad he'll be done with it before he's out of middle school. I had braces starting in 5th grade and had them for 7 years (ending in 11th grade), and I had to have 8 permanent teeth pulled in order to have room for the remaining teeth to fit (palate expanders hadn't been invented yet).
If you get the teeth straightened out right at the beginning, you save them from a life time of mouth trouble.

The American Assoc of Orthos recommend an evaluation at age 7. I just took my daughter for one, it was free. He predicts she will need two of her baby teeth pulled to keep the permanent teeth from going awry. Will evaluate in 6 mos. Still free until he puts her in treatment.

your child has to have all her permanent teeth before the orthodontist starts. and usually the dentist will bring it up to you before you get a chance to mention it. sometimes teeth will be all crooked till they are all in and then start to move around a little bit.

Like one of the previous responders, I'm also an orthodontic assistant, and agree with what she said, and would just like to add the following: like she said, contrary to what others have posted, you do not have to have all of your 'baby' teeth gone before ortho treatment begins. Almost every orthodontist gives free consults, and if you don't initially need treatment, will tell you approximately when you should return for a recheck, and usually that consult is also free, and you don't begin to pay for anything until you are actually treated - they are just taking a quick peak in the mouth. Also, at that young of an age, just because the child's teeth are crooked now, isn't necessarily an indication of what her adult teeth will look like - she could have an issue such as crowding, where something could be down ie a pallat expander as she is growing to make more room for her adult teeth. They can evaluate this kind of issue with a panoramic xray (1 shot, revolves around the entire head) and it will show all those adult teeth waiting up there to pop out. I'd go for the free consult and just see what they have to say - can't hurt, could take 10-15 minutes, and they may just say come back and see us next year, maybe they'll just watch her as she grows.

my son was seven when he got top braces and a palette expender.

My kids are still younger, but I remember I was 10 when I got mine and 12 when they took them off. I am now almost 30 and my teeth have pretty much gone back to the way they were before. I wish my parents had waited a little longer for me to get them.

My SS got them at 12 yrs old...oldest SS needed spacers at 11 and did not end up needing braces because the spacers worked...oldest nephew was told at 13 he needed braces and is just now getting them at 141/2. My oldest son is 6 and has had to have teeth pulled to make room for his grown up teeth and the consensus is, that he will probably have to have them but we haven't heard when yet? My hubby needed and got them, I needed put didn't get them because they would have had to break my jaw and my guardian at the time didn't want to put me through that, although I wish she had! I hope my kids don't get my teeth!

They are very expensive but definitely worth the $.

Go to an orthodontist now and get an evaluation many are free..if not find a free one. Go to more then one. As far as age it's different for each kid depends on the treatment plan and what needs to be done.

I have a child in braces now he got them at at age nine. yes, on some of his adult teeth it's not a full set either. he had a front tooth (top) behind a bottom front tooth. It was pushing on it and he almost lost the bottom tooth it got saved and his treatment maybe over with soon, plus it got his teeth in line in the front. He may need full braces at a later date after this say at 16 but I've paid for the 1/2 set and will get a considerable discount if he needs them for other teeth later. (that was a good deal)

Don't wait until 13 there's no more golden age that's an opinion from way back when, orthodontist can do so much earlier then you think...they've come a long way.

K I was an orthodontic assistant before becoming a SAHM so the facts are yes you can get work done for your children even if they still have baby teeth. Sometimes the baby teeth need to be straighten some to make room for the adult teeth to come in correctly and in this way also helping them to not be so crooked. Usually when we do this it's just four braces on the top and four on the bottom so it's not too much in the child's mouth. Then once they are where they need to be she will get them off (she might only have them on for 6 months to a year) and then once all her adult teeth come in she can have all the braces on to straighten all her teeth and make sure her bite is correct. And the only reason peoples teeth can move back after braces are off is if they stop wearing their retainers at night. As long as you continue to wear those while you sleep your teeth will always stay straight and won't shift back no matter how young you were when you got braces. But just take her in to the ortho. He might look and say they really aren't that bad and might still just want to wait until all baby teeth are gone.

My older kids needs braces. They are 11 now. We are waiting for all the baby teeth to be gone and permanent teeth to be in. When my girls were smaller a dentist told me one would need an expander so her mouth would be bigger to allow her teeth to grow in. Based on other opinions, that was not necessary. My son has the most baby teeth so it might not be until he is 14 but one of my girls only has 2 baby teeth left and one is loose so could be next year.

My six year old has a cross bite and our dentist recommended that we take him now to an orthodontist. I hesitated, but a friend told me this particular ortho will give free consultations until it's time to actually begin the work, probably after the permanent teeth come in ,
I supposet it's possible the ortho would recommend some work now for my son, to try to fix his jaw a bit before the big teeth stretch it in a diff direction. hopefullly after christmas we'll take him and see.