Visits to your local orthodontist can help your child’s development. According to the American Association of Orthodontics, such visits can begin at seven years old to check for early problems as permanent teeth come in. If you think orthodontics is an extra service that can’t benefit your child’s life and health, the following points can help you see differently.

Nutrition and Digestion

Digestion begins in the mouth. So the better you can chew, the better digestion you’ll have. When your child has severely misaligned teeth, it can affect how well they bite, chew, and grind food. Improper chewing before swallowing can result in poor nutrition absorption, choking, constipation, and acid reflux. Your growing child needs as much nutrition as possible to grow into a healthy adult.

Confidence

Childhood and adolescence can be stressful for kids if they feel too different from their peers. Let’s face it, kids can be mean and severe overbites, speech issues, and misaligned smiles can make a child a source of ridicule. However, your local orthodontist can prevent these issues with braces and retainers. As a result, your child can have better confidence about how they look and when talking to peers.

Oral Health

It’s no secret that children love sugary sweets and drinks. Sugar consumption can easily cause tooth decay. While you can counteract that with proper oral hygiene, such hygiene is hard to keep up with when teeth are overcrowded. When teeth overlap, it’s hard to floss and brush each one properly, which makes plaque, tartar, and decay easy to set in. Over time, plaque and decay can lead to gum disease.

Reduce Injury

Children love to run, jump, and play, often leading to falls and scrapes. However, protruding teeth can make your child more susceptible to oral injury. Luckily, protruding teeth can be prevented by the early intervention of braces. In addition, if your child is active in sports, your local orthodontist can provide a custom mouthguard to prevent dental emergencies such as loose or knocked-out teeth.

You can now see why as many as 3.9 million children undergo orthodontic care in the US, according to the American Association of Orthodontists. From better nutrition to injury prevention and increased confidence, orthodontic treatment can make your little one’s childhood and transition to adulthood easier. Bring your child in for an appointment with our caring orthodontist today.