Why Are Arch Expanders Important For Young Patients?

By Glenn Schmidt | Published on December 22, 2011 | 0 Comments

Arch expanders are an important part of orthodontic treatment for adolescent patients, says Dr. Glenn Schmidt of Riverbend Dental Center in New Orleans. Orthodontic treatments these days involve more than just basic metal braces. Dr. Schmidt says early interventions with arch expanders can provide a great benefit to children with tooth crowding.

A popular orthodontics practice in New Orleans, Riverbend Dental Center is known for treating both adolescent and adult patients. When it comes to younger patients, Dr. Schmidt says it’s generally best to start with arch expanders before moving on to braces. Arch expanders help develop the upper and lower arches, which may end up reducing the length of time that a child needs to wear braces during his pre-teen or teenage years.

Dr. Schmidt goes on to explain the basics of how arch expanders work. If a child has crowded teeth and his arches are not developed, then the possibility of having to extract certain teeth to make the remaining teeth fit in the mouth is very real. What arch expanders do is they can actually develop the arches and create space to allow adult teeth enough room to come in. Baby teeth are typically about half the size of adult teeth, explains Dr. Schmidt. Consequently, a child who has no space between his baby teeth is almost guaranteed to need orthodontic braces when his adult teeth come in, in the future. This tooth crowding issue can be largely eliminated by wearing an arch expander at an early age.

In New Orleans, orthodontics experts say the advantage of doing functional treatment or appliance therapy using arch expanders and other devices is that it allows an orthodontist to naturally obtain more space for his patients’ baby teeth and adult teeth to come in. Oftentimes, this decreases the amount of time that a patient in New Orleans will need orthodontics later on in life.

At Riverbend Dental Center, children are seen as young as two or three years old. The age when a parent brings a child in for an initial orthodontics exam in New Orleans will depend on the child’s maturity level.  Dr. Schmidt says it is important to do what works for the child. Nonetheless, it is imperative that parents bring their children in as early as their maturity allows in order to get started on any functional treatments, like arch expanders, while the jaws and teeth are still pliable.

*Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

What People Are Saying.