JARRELL ORTHODONTICS' FACT SHEET

TWO PHASE TREATMENT

You have had your child’s orthodontic consultation (at age 7), the orthodontist has studied your child’s diagnostic records and has recommended “two-phase” treatment.  If you have never heard of two-phase treatment, your initial reaction might be that he is suggesting that your child go through braces twice.  This is, in fact, not the case.  The purpose of this Fact Sheet is to explain Two-Phase Treatment and why it may be the best approach to treat your child’s orthodontic condition.

During Phase One treatment, an orthodontist is primarily concerned with creating enough space for the permanent teeth as well as establishing the proper relationship between the child’s teeth and jaws so that they work correctly. 

Our goal with Phase One is to:

·        regain lost space and correct crowding,

·        improve the front-to-back relationship of the upper and lower jaws,

·        correct the side-to-side relationship of both jaws,

·        prevent future extraction of permanent teeth,

·        improve esthetics by widening arches and eliminating the dark spaces that so often appear at the corners of the mouth,

·        provide good airway flow which eliminates mouth breathing that can negatively impact growth.

One thing is certain, a child who has crowding at age seven, eight, or nine years of age will have crowding at age twelve, thirteen, or forty-two.  Lack of space for permanent teeth does not improve on its own.  Once the issues with the alignment and growth of the jaw are corrected and the remaining teeth are in the appropriate positions, “Phase One” treatment is complete. 

Our goal with Phase Two is to:

·        move the permanent teeth into their proper or final positions

·        finish the tooth/jaw alignment begun during Phase One treatment. 

Most, but not all, patients who go through Phase One treatment will need Phase Two treatment.