Every child should be treated as a unique entity. It is not age the determining factor for treatment but the orthodontic problem itself. For this reason, two children of same age may have different orthodontic needs. The World Federation of Orthodontists advices that all children should have their first orthodontic screening around the age of seven.

Preventive or first phase treatment in younger ages aims to correct:

• Anterior and/or posterior crossbite
• Excessive crowding
• Anterior open bite
• Increased or decreased overjet and overbite
• Skeletal discrepancies
• Difficulty on mastication or pain in the temporomandibular joint
• Dental discrepancies from prolonged habits as thumb sucking or tongue thrusting
• Bruxism
• Space maintenance for permanent teeth eruption if a space is lost prematurely due to trauma, decay or early extraction
• Diagnosis and treatment of ankylosed teeth
• Diagnosis and possible referral to relevant specialists of hypertrophic frenums that affect speech
• Delay in tooth eruption due to pathological problems such as the presence of supernumery teeth
• Fractures of anterior teeth due to abnormal position in the dental arches

Bone tissue in young ages responds faster and easier in orthodontic and orthopedic intervention, thus facilitating normal growth. Early treatment onset might also have a positive effect in cases where space is limited and extractions can be avoided.

Summarizing, we need to stress out the fact that early treatment is highly effective both in the dental arches and in the facial features of a child.