As an intuitive and informed parent, you want what’s best for your child. From early on in life, whether your baby used a pacifier, sucked their thumb, or did something in between, it’s natural to worry about their teeth alignment. As they grow, you might also notice issues like mouth breathing, poor sleep, snoring, teeth grinding, an overbite or overjet, or behavioral challenges.
Traditional orthodontics typically wait until the teenage years (when all the adult teeth have come in) to address these concerns. But what if we told you there is a way to intervene earlier, setting your child up on a healthier path and possibly even avoiding braces altogether?
There is! This proactive approach is called “preventive orthodontics” (note: you may have also heard it referred to as interceptive orthodontics, myofunctional orthodontics, or early orthodontic intervention).
So let’s dive in!
What is Preventive Orthodontics?
Preventive orthodontics, or interceptive orthodontics, focuses on guiding jaw and tooth development early—typically in childhood—to prevent more serious dental issues later. By addressing problems like crowding, bite misalignment, and airway concerns before they worsen, it can reduce the need for extensive orthodontic treatment in the future.
Preventive orthodontics is an innovative approach designed for early intervention–starting as young as four years old. By targeting the root cause of misalignment early, preventive orthodontics focuses on preventing crooked teeth rather than correcting them later in life. This proactive approach can help your child achieve a beautiful smile without braces or surgery, and it also promotes overall health by improving airway function and enhancing sleep quality.
What is HealthyStart for Kids?
The HealthyStart® System is a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical, and pain-free path to straightening your child’s teeth. This system will not only create a beautiful smile for children but also lay the groundwork for a lifetime of healthy breathing. It can correct an overbite, overjet, rotation, crowding, and spacing. It can help children who snore, grind their teeth, have frequent night wakings, wet the bed, are hyperactive, and more. A Healthy Start habit corrector can even straighten your child’s teeth and eliminate their need for braces later in life.
How Does HealthyStart System for Children Work?
Like MyoBrace, HealthyStart habit-correctors gently help your child’s mouth grow in ways that naturally guide teeth into their correct alignments. With permanent teeth in their ideal position, the ligaments and jaw bone will mature around the correctly placed teeth. This leads to lifelong retention and minimizes the chances of orthodontic relapse that many adults experience.
Your child will receive a series of uniquely designed oral appliances tailored to grow and develop along with their mouth. The HealthyStart appliances are meant to be worn for a few hours daily and/or at night while the child sleeps. Over time, this preventive orthodontic practice will support appropriate positioning for permanent teeth, healthy jaw and arch development, and clear nasal breathing.
HealthyStart dental is designed for your child’s comfort and health. As a healthy-consciousparent, you will be happy to know that all of the appliances are BPA, Latex, and Silicone-free and made in the USA.
What are the Main Benefits of HealthyStart?
By choosing the Healthy Start System, your child will experience the following benefits:
- Open the airway and allow for quality sleep
- Create a beautiful smile WITHOUT braces or surgery
- Prevent misalignment of the teeth rather than correcting it
- Treat naturally working with your child’s facial growth and development
- Experience a pain-free approach at half the price of traditional orthodontics
- Improve behavior, focus, and grades
- Stop snoring, bedwetting, and nightmares
- Address the symptoms of SDB naturally
- Ensure your child’s tongue and orofacial muscles support healthy sleep breathing
- Avoid developmental and health consequences from years of poor sleep
- Help your child develop habits that will keep them healthy for a lifetime
Common HealthyStart Questions & Concerns
1. Are HealthyStart appliances comfortable for my child’s mouth?
Yes, HealthyStart appliances are designed with your child’s comfort and well-being in mind. They are made of soft, flexible materials and are often described as a “pillow” for their teeth. HealthyStart for kids is a non-invasive and pain-free experience. Since they are typically worn at night, most children adjust to wearing them quite quickly.
Here are some key takeaways regarding the comfort of the HealthyStart System:
- Soft & Healthy Material: The appliances are made from a soft, flexible, BPA-free, Latex-free, Silicone-free material that is designed to minimize discomfort.
- Non-Invasive: The myofunctional orthodontic practice (HealthyStart design) is non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical, and pain free.
- Minimal Adjustment Period: While there may be a short adjustment period as your child gets used to wearing the appliance, it is moreover considered very manageable.
- Improved Quality of Sleep: Most children report improved sleep quality while wearing the HealthyStart appliance, which not only enhances comfort level, but leads to an overall improved state of well-being.
2. How does HealthyStart for kids compare in time & cost to braces?
Although it depends on your child’s individual needs, HealthyStart is generally less expensive than braces, on average estimating to be around half the cost.
As HealthyStart dental focuses on early intervention, it aims to address alignment issues early in development, sometimes even eliminating the need for braces altogether. The treatment time is shorter and more easeful as the appliances guide teeth into their proper position naturally, rather than forcefully moving them with brackets and wires.
3. What if my child already has permanent teeth?
Children with permanent teeth can use a HealthyStart appliance. However, the most effective time of use is when they only have some permanent teeth. Early intervention is optimal for implementing HealthyStart. When a child does not yet have a large number of permanent teeth, the jaw is more malleable and easier to adjust. Once a child has several permanent teeth, the HealthyStart appliance can be used in its final phase to guide the eruption of the remaining adult teeth into their proper position.
HealthyStart Goes Beyond Straightening Teeth to Prevent Developmental and Health Problems
Your child’s teeth and jaws are essential in their health, growth, and development. Here are some key scenarios to be mindful of where HealthyStart can help prevent dental, developmental, and health issues:
- When a child’s palate is too high and narrow, it can affect their breathing and lead to sleep loss, respiratory problems, poor craniofacial development, and behavior and learning issues.
- When a child has an overbite or overjet, it can restrict the airway during sleep. This can eventually lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and developmental delays.
- When a child’s upper or lower arch is too narrow, there won’t be room for adult teeth. This leads to a future of painful dental appliances, pulling healthy adult teeth, and braces.
Sleep Disordered Breathing: An Epidemic
In the last 20 years, clinical research has revealed a strong link between certain increasingly common childhood health and behavioral issues and an underlying condition known as Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB). When your child’s breathing is disrupted, his or her body recognizes this disruption, similar to choking. This can cause a slowed heart rate or raised blood pressure, which alerts the brain and nervous system, ultimately disrupting your child’s sleep.
Affecting 9 out of 10 children, SDB often manifests as a range of symptoms, including mouth breathing, snoring, restless sleep, bedwetting, daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, hyperactivity, misaligned teeth, delayed growth, and depression. If left untreated, these symptoms can worsen over time and become challenging to reverse. Quality sleep is important for improving memory, problem-solving skills, and behavior.
The HealthyStart System for kids is designed to intervene early, addressing the root cause of Sleep Disordered Breathing in a natural and non-invasive way. By guiding proper oral and airway development, HealthyStart can help alleviate SDB symptoms, improve sleep quality, and support your child’s overall health and well-being.
Is HealthyStart Right for My Family?
HealthyStart is designed for children who are at high risk for Sleep Disordered Breathing or who are in danger of needing braces when permanent teeth erupt. Your child may benefit from HealthyStart Dental if they:
- Snore or breathe heavily at night
- Have a slack-jawed, open-mouthed posture during the day
- Have frequent night wakings or nightmares
- Wet the bed (frequent bedwetting)
- Are ‘messy sleepers,’ flopping around and tangling the bed in the night
- Seem sleepy during the day
- Have bags under their eyes
- Have trouble paying attention at home and in school
- Are hyperactive
- Grind their teeth
- Have crowded teeth
- Have problems associated with ADD/ADHD
- Grind their teeth
- Have an overbite or overjet
- Have delayed growth
- Display aggressive behavior
- Have delayed growth
- Mouth Breathing
- Have crowded teeth
- Have swollen adenoids/tonsils
- Have chronic allergies
Ready to Learn More?
If your child has any of these symptoms, or you would like to learn more about preventive orthodontics and the HealthyStart system, contact us. You’ll be amazed at how a simple soft dental device can improve your child’s overall health.
