Qu’est ce que l’orthodontie interceptive?
Orthodontics for children 3 years or older
Since 2002, the Haute Autorité de santé has recommended that children receive dental consultations from a practitioner before reaching 6 years of age.
However, only 9% of orthodontic treatments are begun before the age of 9.
We prescribe customized removeable orthodontic appliances along with specific therapeutic exercises.
Our approach then employs a combination of interceptive orthodontics and functional dentistry.
Or, more generally, preventative orthodontics, which is of the unique benefit to children where malocclusion can be treated by influencing teeth and jawbone development. Early diagnosis and treatment are then imperative while treatments can take advantage of children’s natural growth potential, rather than letting this potential extinguish and being forced to resort to more serious and complicated treatments after tooth and jaw development has stopped.
In reality, the vast majority of children end up wearing some form of orthodontic to correct teeth alignment or jaw development. And luckily today we can avoid the long and expensive treatments that are all too common during adolescence by taking advantage of the many orthodontics that are now designed to treat these issues beginning at 3 years of age. It’s too often the case that a child arrives at the orthodontist with problems that would have been much more simply corrected at a younger age, and without necessitating long treatments or having to extract permanent teeth!
Catching orthodontic conditions and properly timed treatment is therefore of the utmost importance. If your child shows a disposition towards- sucking their thumb/pacifier/comforter/fingers, biting their nails, sucking their tongue, mouth breathing, restless sleep, or putting their tongue in between their teeth when swallowing -they could be suffering from conditions that can lead to improper tooth alignment and facial development. Even more importantly, if these conditions aren’t corrected early, later orthodontic treatments may prove ineffective!
Pacifiers Are Public Enemy #1 For Well Aligned Teeth!
If the pacifier has fulfilled its base function of reducing biting during feeding time, it's imperative to withdraw pacifiers immediately after reaching 1 year of age. Even if it often seems magical in its abilities to stop cyring and appease babies... once that first candle is blown out, the pacifiers should be done away with ASAP.
Just as with thumb sucking, pacifier dependency is often listed as public enemy #1 against well-aligned teeth and balanced growth.
