Most parents arrive at the same question at the same moment: my child still has baby teeth, so surely it is too early to see an orthodontist. The Australian Society of Orthodontists suggests a first assessment at about age seven, which takes most families by surprise. Here is why that age is useful, and what actually happens if you come in.
Why age seven
By seven, enough adult teeth have arrived for us to see how the jaw is developing and where the rest of the teeth are heading, while there are still years of growth left to work with. That combination is what makes seven a useful age. We can see a problem taking shape, and we can still influence it.
It is worth being clear about what an early assessment is for. In most cases the answer is that nothing needs doing yet. That is not a wasted appointment. It is the difference between watching something and missing it.
What we are looking for
- A crossbite, where the upper and lower teeth do not meet as they should
- An underbite, where the lower teeth sit in front of the upper ones
- Severe crowding, or an adult tooth that has no room to come through at all
- A thumb or finger habit that is changing the shape of the bite
- Teeth that are not appearing when their neighbours have
- A jaw that is noticeably narrow, or that shifts to one side when your child bites together
If something would be easier to fix now
Early treatment is usually short and specific. An expander to widen a narrow upper jaw, a removable plate, or braces on a few front teeth. It is aimed at one problem rather than at straightening everything, and it is often followed years later by a second stage once all the adult teeth are through. There is more on how we approach this on our early treatment page.
If nothing needs doing
Then we say so, and we mean it. We will usually ask to see your child again in a year or two so we can watch how the adult teeth come through, and those reviews are not a commitment to treatment. No child should be started on an appliance to fill a chair.
Do we need a referral?
No. Many of our patients are referred by their family dentist and many book directly, and either is completely normal. If you do have a referral, bring it along with any recent X-rays so we are not repeating imaging your child has already had. What happens at a first visit walks through the appointment itself, start to finish.
