Orthodontics – Denver, CO 

Phase 1 Orthodontics

Phase 1 Orthodontics is a type of treatment used to correct alignment issues as soon as they show up, which is typically when the child has a combination of baby and adult teeth. Phase 1 Orthodontics is what gives adult teeth have the best chance of coming in straight. The baby teeth essentially “clear the path” for the adult teeth, so we'll alleviate crowding and crossbites or stop habits like finger/thumb sucking and by using oral appliances. We can proactively help a child get a perfectly straight set of teeth instead of depeding on braces alone.

Space Maintainers

If a baby tooth goes missing too early, this can actually lead to the surrounding teeth drifting out of place and blocking the path of an incoming adult tooth, leading to a wide variety of orthodontic issues. To avoid this, we can place a space maintainer in your child’s mouth so their adult tooth can erupt unobstructed. These tiny appliances are comfortable, only take a few minutes to apply, and can save a whole lot of hassle down the road for your child’s smile.

Oral Habits Appliances

Although many babies soothe themselves through sucking on a pacifier or their thumb, these habits can interfere with your child’s oral development down the road, particularly with how the mouth forms to fit teeth. With every checkup, especially as your child loses their baby teeth and gains their permanent teeth, we’ll keep a close eye on the spacing inside their mouth. We want to avoid jutting front teeth, crowded teeth, and other issues. To treat these, we can use custom appliances and other therapies, according to their needs.

Crossbite Correction

A crossbite is when the upper and lower teeth are offset from left to right, causing the upper teeth to sit inside of the lower teeth, which is the opposite of how a normal bite should work. This can lead to excessive tooth wear, stiffness in the jaw, and negatively affect the overall look and shape of a child’s smile. As you might have guessed, crossbite correction is specifically designed to fix this problem. This may involve using braces, a lower lingual holding arch (LLHA), or a rapid palatal expander (RPE) to shift the teeth and guide the development of the palate to create a well-balanced and functional bite.

Lower Lingual Holding Arch (LLHA)

As a child’s lower adult molars come in, sometimes, these large teeth can actually push the ones in front of them out of place, causing them to crowd towards the front of the mouth. If we suspect that this might happen for your child (which we’ll determine using X-rays during their regular checkups), we can place a small appliance that loops around their lower back teeth. It will essentially make sure the rest of their bite stays in place while their molars erupt, preventing a whole host of potential orthodontic issues. This treatment can also help us gain space. Ask us to explain how!

Rapid Palatal Expanders

Sometimes, the hard palate of a child’s mouth can be so narrow that it leads to teeth crowding, plus it can inhibit their ability to breathe normally (mostly during sleep). A rapid palatal expander is a small metal bar that is placed within the mouth using loops on a child’s upper molars. Over time, this bar is gradually widened, slowly increasing the size of the palate as a child grows. This creates more room for the teeth to come in properly, plus it can open up a child’s airway to help them get better sleep.