This time of year is for children synonymous with fun and free time. It is time for summer camps, family plans and leisure activities. The days are long and there is plenty of time to do endless things! Therefore, experts advise taking advantage of summer vacations to perform the first oral exam with an orthodontist.
This first review should be done around six years of age (or when the first definitive molar appears), and it is a very important visit that parents should not overlook or delay. We tell you the reasons.
Why is the first visit with the orthodontist important?
There are times when problems in children's bucondental development they are so obvious that the pediatrician himself in routine check-ups, or the parents themselves, detect it right away. But on other occasions, the signs are not exterior or clearly noticeable, so only a specialist can diagnose them.
Therefore, the Spanish Society of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics again insists on the importance of taking children to the orthodontist around six years of age, as this first consultation is transcendental for their oral health, both now and in the future .Experts remember that at this time of child development it is easier to treat problems related to the growth of maxillary or mandibular bones with dentofacial orthopedics. And generally dentofacial correction techniques become increasingly complex as the child grows.
But in addition to oral problems, the orthodontist can detect other problems that apparently do not have much to do with teeth but are equally important, such as the Childhood Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, which we talked about recently in Babies and More and that so many problems can lead to the child's health if not It is diagnosed and treated early.
Why is six years the perfect age for this first consultation?
Experts advise taking the child to the orthodontist for the first time around six years of age, as this is usually the age at which the first definitive molar appears. In addition, this stage is also very important for the development of dental occlusion, that is, the way in which the lower and upper teeth fit.
The first definitive molars are the ones that are going to act as a “guide” so that the teeth that remain to come out are positioned correctly. Hence the importance of putting yourself in the hands of a specialist at this crucial stage of development.The molars and milk canines are located at the site where the final canines and premolars should then be. These temporary teeth are larger than the permanent ones that remain to erupt, and that difference in space will be very important for proper oral development.
Therefore, it is convenient that precisely in this evolutionary stage an orthodontist check the child and make sure that this process is being done properly. Otherwise, the parents will be informed and they will be able to initiate an interceptive treatment that will allow the correction of the incipient alterations and thus prevent the malocclusion from going further, resulting in more serious problems.
However, regardless of this first visit with the orthodontist, remember that it is important to take the child to the pediatric dentist at the moment they begin to erupt their first baby teeth (around the fifth and eighth month) in order to detect incipient problems in their bucondental development, and other aspects such as bottle caries. From that moment, it will be the specialist himself who will guide us in the periodic visits that we will have to make.
Via Spanish Society of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
In Babies and More Seven tips to avoid bottle caries, what happens when teeth get messy ?, Childhood sleep apnea syndrome: the importance of detecting it in time
