Growth and development monitoring

Based on the guidelines of internationally recognized orthodontic specialty professional bodies such as the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), the first appointment with a Specialist Orthodontist should be when children are 7 years old. This age is critical because at this stage the first permanent teeth normally start to appear in the mouth and a simple clinical examination by a Specialist Orthodontist can reveal how your child’s jaws, teeth and soft tissues (gums, cheeks, lips, tongue) are growing and functioning within the overall facial structures.

If any deviations from normal exist or are at risk of developing in the future, these are diagnosed and the ideal timing for orthodontic treatment commencement is discussed with patients and parents.

In most children, orthodontic treatment is deferred to later ages except for malocclusions that obviously compromise normal development and growth of all tissues and predispose to increased need for more complicated treatments in the future.

With the scope to decrease or even eliminate the psychologic burden to your child from the delivery of complex treatments, a scheme of frequent and simple clinical examinations is set-up to monitor the normal development and growth of the jaws, teeth and soft tissues and spot any problems in a timely manner. Even if everything looks OK at the age of 7, these growth monitoring sessions safeguard the normal development and growth as well as normal function in performing everyday-life tasks such as swallowing, mastication, speaking and breathing.

Our extensive clinical experience, nationally and internationally, in university and private clinics and within multidisciplinary patient management groups, ensures that in case any problems with the growth and function are identified and are within the scope of practice of other dental or medical specialties (pediatricians, ear-nose-throat specialists, maxillofacial surgeons, growth endocrinologists and other medical doctors) or professionals from other scientific fields (speech therapists, dieticians, psychologists), you will be consulted on which is and how to follow the ideal pathway for your child’s overall health and well-being.