The goal of phase one treatment is to help your child’s jaw develop in a way that will accommodate all of the permanent teeth that are eventually going to come in and to improve the way the upper and lower jaws fit together.
Children often exhibit early signs of jaw problems as they grow and develop. An upper that is growing too much or is too narrow can be recognized at an early age. If children over the age of six are found to have this jaw discrepancy, they are candidates for early orthodontic treatment. Also, if children around the age of eight have crowded front teeth, early treatment can avoid the need to extract permanent teeth later.
Children can benefit tremendously from early phase treatment. Receiving early treatment may prevent the removal of permanent teeth later in life or the need for surgical procedures to realign the jaws.
Orthodontic records are necessary to determine the type of orthodontic appliances that should be used, the length of treatment, and the frequency of visits. Records consist of models of the teeth, X-rays, and photographs.