It’s wise to see an orthodontist as early as seven-years-old. An orthodontist possesses the know-how to determine if malocclusion is dental (teeth) or skeletal (jaws) and, if necessary, can whip your teeth into shape with braces and correct jaw and facial growth with dentofacial orthopedics. This can prevent the need for corrective surgery in the future and give you the beautiful smile you deserve.
A professor once said to me, “If you don’t know what is causing a problem, you won’t be able to fix it.” While this holds true for everything in life, in orthodontics it really underscores the importance of learning diagnosis. An orthodontist will uncover the underlying issue and root cause of a person’s malocclusion and evaluate the various treatment options to determine which ones will work best for each individual patient.
With so many choices including Invisalign, clear braces, metal braces and lingual braces, you’ll need an orthodontist to steer you toward what will give you the best possible results.