Preventive Treatment in Arvada

When it comes to your child’s teeth, prevention is often the best medicine of all. At West Arvada Orthodontics, we are dedicated to making sure our youngest patients can enjoy a lifetime of healthy smiles. That is why we are proud to offer preventive treatment to help your child’s teeth and jaw develop naturally. If you would like to understand the benefits of preventive orthodontic treatment, call our office today. Our team is happy to help.

What Is Preventive Treatment?

Like early interceptive treatment, also known as phase one orthodontics, preventive orthodontic treatment is concerned with your child’s tooth and jaw development. However, there is an important difference between these two forms of treatment, both in their timing as well as how they impact your child’s overall oral health. The goal of preventive treatment is to anticipate orthodontic issues before they develop and design treatment plans to help their teeth and jaws grow healthy and strong.

How Does Preventive Treatment Work?

Preventive treatment can involve a variety of procedures depending on your child’s needs. Common preventive treatment measures include:

• Parent education: Educating parents about the proper ways to care for their child’s tooth development is an essential part of preventive treatment. We want to educate you about the proper nutrition, nursing, bottle feeding and pacifier use for your baby, so their teeth come in with minimal issue or interruption. Once your child’s permanent teeth erupt, we will instruct you and your child on good oral hygiene habits.

• Cavity prevention: Preventing cavities can help ensure your child’s healthy overall dental development. We may recommend preventive procedures such as sealants and fluoride applications depending on your child’s needs, as well as filling your child’s cavities as soon as possible to prevent further damage.
• Extractions: Sometimes your child may develop extra baby teeth, or their jaw is too small for the teeth they have. This can interfere with the development of your child’s permanent teeth, crowd the surrounding teeth in the jaw and cause other bite issues. In these cases, we may recommend extractions to help the rest of your child’s teeth erupt naturally.
• Make sure your child’s teeth are coming in normally: Typically, your child’s permanent teeth will come in about three months after their baby teeth fall out. Be sure to schedule a checkup at our office to make sure your child’s permanent teeth are coming in normally. This will allow us to diagnose any issues with your child’s teeth, jaws or gums that may be interfering with their development.
• Space maintenance: If we recommend the extraction of one or more of your child’s baby teeth, we may use space maintainers. Space maintainers are used to keep your child’s other teeth from shifting into the gap following the extraction.

Give your child the best start possible. For preventive treatment in Arvada, call our office at  1-720-800-9331 today. Our patient and professional team is here to answer all your questions.