My Child Had a First Phase/Early Round of Treatment When They Still Had Baby Teeth; Is Another Round of Braces Going to be Necessary?

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Dr.-Wes

From Dr. Wes Orthodontics

Short answer – it depends.  For children who have a first phase/early round of treatment, also called “Phase I”, a second phase is often recommended.

The first phase is usually limited in scope and focused on a specific problem that benefits from more immediate correction. Since patients typically have some baby teeth remaining during the early phase of treatment, it is not possible to address all of the potential problems or conditions at that time.

Phase II treatment is essentially a follow-up or continuation of the previous treatment. It usually begins when most or all of the permanent teeth are in. Its purpose is to resolve the remaining issues and give the best, most complete outcome.

However, not all children will require a second phase of treatment.  In some cases, the problem(s) corrected during the early phase are the only problem(s) that ever occur.

In others, additional treatment may be entirely cosmetic in nature, and may not be required for proper function and dental health.  Many patients are interested in cosmetic improvements and seek orthodontic care for this reason.

On the other hand, not every child and parent place the same importance on a perfect smile and some level of imperfection may be acceptable to them, rendering additional treatment unnecessary.  An orthodontist should be able to explain the cosmetic vs. functional aspects of the proposed treatment.

You should not be afraid to ask for that explanation if you are not particularly interested in additional treatment purely for esthetics.  If you are not satisfied with the explanation you get – seek an opinion from another orthodontist.  It is important to note that patients are not obligated to continue treatment in practice if an early phase of treatment was completed there.  Patients have the freedom to continue treatment wherever they choose, or not at all.

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