Right Age for
Treatment

Dr. Lacoursiere prefers to see patients before the loss of all their baby teeth. This allows him to identify problems that may indicate the need for earlier treatment. 

Early treatment can reduce the risk of more complicated treatment such as needing to remove adult teeth or even jaw surgery. Seeing a patient by the age of 7 years of age is optimal; this allows the doctor to establish a plan of how to create a better bite more efficiently. (The Canadian Association of Orthodontists (CAO) recommends that all children have a check-up with an orthodontist by the time they reach age 7).

One of the goals at Image Orthodontics is to time treatment appropriately with a growth spurt so that optimal results can be accomplished in a single set of braces. Waiting until a patient has lost all baby teeth may limit the number of options that are available.

Orthodontists today can successfully correct most problems regardless of the patient’s age. However, this does not mean that orthodontic treatment starting age does not matter. In fact, age plays a significant role in the total time, the treatment options available and the cost required to complete the orthodontic treatment.

Age Related Treatment Types

Treatment performed at Image orthodontics is “face driven”. Image Orthodontics treatment philosophy allows Dr. Lacoursiere to focus on methods that do not negatively affect the support of the lips, cheeks, and nose not just the teeth.

Interceptive Treatment

There are times when treatment must be considered when there is a mixture of both adult and baby teeth present in the mouth. Treatment can vary from patient to patient and can include procedures that involve retainer therapy, planned baby tooth removal and/or braces for a short term to help address each problem. There can be many different objectives of early treatment and they vary based on the initial problem and the individual patient.

Adolescent Treatment

Most orthodontic problems are ideally treated during this time. Usually, all or most permanent teeth are erupted and patients are at one of their most active phases of growth. This is a great time to correct most problems, as the jaws are actively growing and their growth can be most easily modified during this time. Image Orthodontics offers state-of-the-art metal self-ligating braces as well as these options for esthetically conscious teens: Invisalign, Incognito (inside braces) and clear (ceramic) braces.

Adult Treatment

Adults more now than ever are seeking orthodontic treatment to improve their smile. Adults seek treatment for many different reasons from esthetics to improved oral health. Image Orthodontics offers the best esthetic options for hidden or invisible treatment, these include: Invisalign, Incognito (inside braces) and clear (ceramic) braces.

Healthy teeth can be moved at any age!

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