Get a Head Start on a Beautiful Smile
As a parent in Portland, Windham, and the surrounding areas, you want the best for your child. That includes healthy teeth and a pleasing smile.
Dr. Joanna Yu will treat your children like her own by giving them the best possible orthodontic care.
Kids Should Get an Orthodontic Check-Up By 7
Dr. Joanna Yu and our team at Adult & Pediatric Orthodontics will treat your children like our own by giving them the best possible orthodontic care.
By age seven, your child's teeth have developed enough for Dr. Yu to spot subtle problems with jaw growth and emerging teeth before all of your child’s baby teeth are lost.
Your check-up at our offices in Portland or Windham may reveal that your child's bite is fine, and braces for kids aren't necessary at this time.
Or, Dr. Yu may identify a developing problem but recommend monitoring your child's growth and development, and then, if indicated, begin treatment at the appropriate time for your child.
In other cases, Dr. Yu might find a problem that can benefit from early treatment.
What Is Early Treatment?
Early treatment with Adult & Pediatric Orthodontics may prevent or intercept more serious problems from developing and may make treatment at a later age shorter and less complicated.
In some cases, Dr. Yu can achieve results that may not be possible once your child’s face and jaws have finished growing.
Finding the Best Time for Treatment
While the age that kids get braces may vary, we often begin orthodontic treatment at Adult & Pediatric Orthodontics between 9 and 14, because some orthodontic problems are easier to correct if we treat them sooner.
If Dr. Yu thinks your child will need treatment, she’ll let you know when it will be best to begin treatment. This gives your orthodontist the best chance to:
- Guide jaw growth
- Create a more pleasing arrangement of teeth, lips and face
- Improve appearance and self-esteem in your child
- Guide permanent teeth into a more favorable position
- Lower the risk of trauma to protruded front teeth
- Correct harmful oral habits
Signs the Bite's Not Right
It's not always easy to tell when your child may need braces or has an orthodontic problem without a trained orthodontist like Dr. Joanna Yu. Even if your child's teeth look straight may still hide a problematic bite.
Here are some clues that you may need to talk to Adult & Pediatric Orthodontics about orthodontic attention:
- Early or late loss of baby teeth
- Difficulty chewing or biting
- Breathing through the mouth
- Thumb-sucking
- Crowded, misplaced or blocked-out teeth
- Jaws that are too far forward or back
- Biting the cheek or biting into the roof of the mouth
- Protruding teeth
- Upper and lower teeth that don't meet, or meet in an abnormal way
- An unbalanced facial appearance
- Grinding or clenching of the teeth
Learn More at Your Free Consultation
If your child has a dental issue, please contact us by setting up a free consultation at our Portland or Windham office.
We can talk about your child's orthodontic options and if she thinks it’s necessary, Dr. Joanna Yu can create a customized treatment plan just for your child.