(Two Phase Orthodontics)

After Complete Treatment
Before Treatment	After Treatment
Before Treatment	After Treatment
Before Treatment	After Treatment
Before Treatment - Left View	After Treatment - Left View
Before Treatment - Right View	After Treatment - Right View

Why and When

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children have an orthodontic screening no later than age 7.

Things have changed since you were growing up and going to the orthodontist probably wasn't mentioned until you had all your permanent teeth. When you finally went to the orthodontist you might have had teeth extracted because there was not enough room for all of them or may have had to wear braces for a long period of time

Stitch in time saves 32.

        The usual policy of wait and watch until all permanent teeth come into the mouth (12 to 13 years), often results in a sacrifice of four healthy permanent teeth as well as compromised and camouflaged Late Orthodontic Treatment. This can be avoided by starting treatment early. Ideally, a child must be brought in for an Orthodontic check up when  he/she  is 7 - 8 years old. (Sometimes even earlier in case of harmful habits such as thumb/finger/lip sucking or nail biting or major facial defects such as hare-lip or clip-palate).

    Treatment usually starts later but accurate timing is essential. This is possible only if the child is already under the expert's care and observation. Since girls mature earlier, treatment may start at the age of 8 to 9 years while a boy may be treated at 9 to 10 years of age or even later.

Why do you need 'Early Orthodontic' intervention?

There is a better way, called ‘Early Treatment'  and Dr. Prakash  has been using it for years. Latest techniques and modern Orthodontic Appliances have made it even easier to treat younger patients, with safe and painless growth modifying appliances.

An upper or lower jaw may be growing either too much or too little, or in an unfavourable direction. Many children show early signs of such jaw growth deformities. These may be missed by an untrained eye, while it is very easy for a professional to recognize them early and deal with them.

Children can benefit enormously from an early phase of treatment, while they are growing actively during early growth spurts. During this period the children have mixed dentition (few milk teeth as well as some permanent teeth present in the mouth).

Special appliances can be used at this stage to influence the growth relationship of the jaws themselves. (This is not possible when all the permanent teeth have already erupted into the mouth.)

Thus, a good foundation can be established by redirecting growth favourably. This provides adequate room for the remaining permanent teeth to erupt into their correct and ideal positions.
Prevention is better than cure.

Some things to look out for, where Early Treatment is required- Indicated :

• Overbite - upper front teeth overlap lower teeth
• Deepbite - upper front teeth cover up lower teeth when biting down
• Underbite - lower front teeth overlap upper teeth
• Openbite - upper and lower teeth do not come together when
  biting down
• Spacing - gaps between the teeth
• Protruding Front Teeth – upper front teeth inclined forwards abnormally
• Crossbite - lower teeth or tooth is on the inside of the upper teeth
• Crowding - crowding is when you see twist and turns of the teeth or teeth may come in front of or back of other teeth. .

Advantages of Early Treatment (also called as Phase I treatment)

        In a large number of patients a successful Phase I treatment ensures that all permanent teeth get accommodated and more often there is no need to extract permanent teeth at a later stage.

        Front teeth that protrude forward are likely to get injured leading to severe dental procedures. (Broken/chipped teeth may require specialized treatment i.e. root canal treatment). Early orthodontic treatment corrects such teeth rapidly thereby prevents permanent damage.

. Patient get rid of his buck-toothed, bunny-rabbit appearance. This tremendous facial improvement is always accompanied by wonderful personality change. Thus, there is not only a dental but also a mental advantage too. In mouths where teeth are unable to find room they may remain trapped inside the jaws; when discovered, these teeth require specialized treatment. These conditions go unnoticed if you wait till 12 years of age.

How long does each phase last ?

Phase I lasts for about 10 to 15 months. Depending on the progress of Phase I, the remaining treatment may require 12 to 18 months. Overall treatment time remains same.

The resting period / holiday from braces.

 After a successful Phase I, depending on the age, eruption of teeth, general body development, health, and growth spurts we may decide to withdraw treatment for sometime. During this period patient is recalled occasionally and has no dietary restrictions as he/she may be wearing a removable retainer. Children find this Two Phase treatment easier as we give them a holiday from braces between the two phases.

Second Phase Treatment

This phase starts at the age of 12 years or when all the permanent teeth are in the mouth. During this phase, all the teeth are moved to their final position and active treatment is completed.

Come to Us When Your Child is about 8 to 9 years of age