Indications  of Treatment

Common Problems / Indications of treatment

1. Anterior crossbite

(Risk of excessive growth of the lower jaw, tooth wear, gum recession).

2. Incisor protrusion

(Risk of incisor trauma and fracture of anterior teeth)

3. Narrow Jaw

Without early treatment, bone asymmetry can develop. Orthodontics alone can not solve the problem and additional surgery may be necessary at the end of adolescence. Early treatment allows better nasal breathing and thus better growth of the maxilla.

4. Impacted Canines 

(Risk of damage to the lateral incisor)

5. Deep bite

(The lower teeth bite and traumatize the gingiva on the side of the palate)
 

6. Spaces

between the incisors above 3mm (prevents the eruption of canines)
 

7. Dental agenesis

(Decision of extracting the tooth or to maintain it in function depends on the occlusion and skeletal pattern of the patient)
 

8. Presence of a supernumerary tooth

(Extraction allows normal development of the teeth or blocked in their eruption by his presence)
 

9. Open bite

(Lack of contact between the anterior teeth)
Often due to a thumb sucking  habit or tongue thrust.
 

Depending on the age of the patient, and the type of dental problem, we may proceed to an  interceptive treatment only (sometimes called first phase of treatment) or orthodontic treatment  in two phases (see section orthodontics of the child). If the patient is mature enough (12 years and over in general)  we can proceed with a  complete treatment  which is feasible in a single phase.
We use removable and fixed appliances to help us normalize the dental arches to allow as much as possible a normal eruption of permanent teeth to come. Once the first treatment phase is complete, we let the child grow and continue his dental development. Annual monitoring will be done until the age of 11-12 years to check if tooth development and jaw growth is happening correctly. Sometimes the interception phase is  sufficient to  completely correct the malocclusion. Otherwise, a new 

assessment will be made and  a new treatment plan will be proposed if it is necessary to proceed with a second phase of treatment.
As will be explained during the consultation, the costs related to interceptive treatment cover only this phase of treatment, and if treatment is necessary later on ( 2nd phase) around the age of  11-12 years, a new financial agreement   will be taken. It is nevertheless important to note that a two-phase treatment will not be necessarily more expensive than complete treatment  at the age of 12 years and will often be able to treat more conservatively (it is often not need to extract permanent teeth  through interceptive treatment).