If you’re wondering if it’s time to get braces for your child, you may be hearing conflicting advice from friends and family. It’s an important decision for your child’s oral health because if they get braces too early, they run the risk of needing them again down the road. The fact is, the experience of the neighbors or the other kids at school may not be your child’s experience.
Getting braces is a medical decision that depends on the development of your child’s mouth and teeth. It is best to straighten teeth while the head and mouth are well developed but still growing. Because of this, only an X-ray will reveal whether it’s the right time to get braces. And that painless scan is part of Birmingham Orthodontics’ free consultation.
What are the warning signs?
How do you know when it’s time for a consultation? Often your child’s dentist will be the first to notice the warning signs. They will recommend you make an appointment with an orthodontist. Here is what the dentist will be on the lookout for:
- Crowding of teeth
- Tooth misplacement
- Crookedness
- Rapid loss of baby teeth
- Abnormal spacing
- Pronounced overbite or underbite
If you or your dentist notice any of these signs, it is the right time to make an appointment with an orthodontist. That first appointment is a free consultation where a patient team assesses your child’s mouth, asks questions, and answers any that you may have. We’ll also take that X-ray. Using the latest technology is an important part of our commitment to providing the high-quality treatment to our patients. Our high-precision scanner takes a quick, non-invasive X-ray of your child’s mouth and teeth. An orthodontist reviews the scan to determine whether it is the right time to get braces. The whole process takes less than an hour. If you’re curious, here’s an article with more details about what happens at that first appointment.
What does the scan say?
If it’s not yet time:
One possibility is that it’s not quite time to get braces. The orthodontist may review the scans and determine that more growth needs to occur first. They may give you a suggested timeframe and set out a plan for beginning treatment. One benefit of deferred treatment is a head start on financing your child’s braces. Our Youth Savings Program lets you lock in the current cost of treatment and begin paying sooner, which results in a lower monthly payment. And it’s risk-free. We’ll give you a full refund if you decide later not to seek treatment for any reason.
If now is the time:
If the orthodontist determines it is time for treatment, we can begin as early as that day if you like. Birmingham Orthodontics’ mission is to provide affordable orthodontic care without ever sacrificing quality. Our team works to do that in the most convenient way possible. One way is by offering Same Day Braces. If you think your child probably needs braces, when you are scheduling your consultation, let us know if you would be interested in having their braces put on that same day. Other practices require several visits before putting them on, but we offer an option to start treatment the same day. And we’ll even give you a $129 discount.
Where Do We Go From Here?
If it is time for your child to begin treatment, we can serve you from one of our four convenient locations. We would love to meet you and answer any questions you might have about your child’s oral health. And when it comes to paying for their braces, Birmingham Orthodontics offers qualifying patients zero down-payment and interest-free, in-house financing plans. We also offer a variety of patient appreciation discounts.
Whether your child begins treatment now or later, Birmingham Orthodontics offers a Lifetime Smile Guarantee. This guarantee ensures that if your child is ever unhappy with their smile, we’ll be here to fix it.
Get started by setting up your free consultation, and Smile More with Birmingham Orthodontics.
At Birmingham Orthodontics, our mission is simple: we create smiles. Not only do we straighten the crooked grin, fix the bite, and adjust the jaw, we brighten yearbooks and instill confidence. We also believe in our staff. Our culture of continuous learning drives us to host monthly training sessions for each team and bring in leading industry consultants to help keep us ahead of the curve. Contact us for a free consultation, or with any questions you might have.
