Our office in St. Charles welcomes children starting at age 7, teenagers, as well as adults. Dr. Garvey likes to see children at age 7, an age that's recommended for a first orthodontic visit to detect abnormalities as early as possible.

Why start at age 7?

That is the age that the American Association of Orthodontists recommend for your childs first orthodontic check-up.At age 7 these things happen in your child's mouth:

• The first molars start to come in
• Incisors have begun to come in

Because the molars and incisors have started coming in, we can see potential problem areas that benefit from early treatment.  We don't advocate comprehensive orthodontic treatment at age 7, but there are some early treatments that can have real benefits.

As a parent, you can look for the following problems.  If you have any doubts, we recommend setting up an appointment to get a full evaluation from an orthodontic specialist - Your child might benefit from an early diagnosis and treatment.

Interceptive treatment may be appropriate in the kinds of problems such as:  crossbite, crowding, open bite, protrusion, oral habits, complete Class III, ectopic eruption, and diastema.