Ages 5 to 10 · growth guidance
Early Orthodontics, Explained Calmly
Some orthodontic problems are far easier to address while a child is still growing. An early assessment tells you which kind your child has, and whether the right time to act is now, later or never. Early checks run at our Beaconsfield clinic, close to Berwick, Officer and Pakenham.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Sofia Monter, general dentist with additional orthodontic training · Reviewed October 2026
Weekend appointments: orthodontics and airway checks now run on Saturdays and Sundays.
At a Glance
- First check: around age five to seven.
- What we look at: breathing, habits, palate width, the bite and how the adult teeth are arriving.
- Most likely outcome: for many children, watch and review.
- When we treat: only where early treatment has a clear purpose, such as an underbite, crowding or a crossbite.
- Common tools: a palate expander, habit support, a space maintainer or a growth appliance.
- Typical cost: most orthodontic and airway treatments here cost $4,000 to $9,750, with an approximate quote at your free consultation.
Why Timing Changes the Options
A child’s upper jaw grows along a seam in the roof of the mouth that stays responsive through childhood and stiffens around adolescence. While that window is open, gentle appliances can guide how the jaw grows. Once it closes, treatment can still straighten teeth, but the chance to change the size and shape of the jaw itself has largely passed.
That window is the whole reason early assessment exists. Research on children’s facial growth links narrow jaws and mouth breathing with each other and with disturbed sleep in some children (Harari et al., 2010; Huang & Guilleminault, 2013), and growth guidance is far simpler while the face is still growing. Seeing a child at five or six does not commit them to treatment. It buys information while every option is still on the table.
This page is part of our orthodontics in Beaconsfield guide, which explains how we plan every case around breathing and jaw development.
What We Look For at an Early Check
- How your child breathes. Mouth open at rest or during sleep, snoring, and restless nights (see our guide to mouth breathing and children’s development). Habitual snoring in children has been linked with behaviour and learning difficulties (Chervin et al., 2002; Bonuck et al., 2012).
- Habits that shape the bite. Thumb or finger sucking and dummy use beyond about age four are associated with measurable bite changes (Grippaudo et al., 2016). Tongue function matters too; our guide to tongue-ties explains when a tight tongue is worth looking at. We help children wind habits down gently, without shame.
- A narrow palate or crossbite. A sign the upper jaw may need room. This is the problem palatal expansion addresses, and childhood is the easiest time to do it.
- Prominent front teeth. Front teeth that stick out are more likely to be injured in falls and sport. A Cochrane review found fewer front-tooth injuries in children treated early than in children who waited (Batista et al., 2018).
- Crowding, spacing and how the adult teeth are arriving. Baby teeth lost early or late, and adult teeth short of room, both change what we recommend and when.
What Can Early Treatment Involve?
It depends entirely on what we find, and the honest answer for many children is nothing yet. For many children, the outcome of an early check is a watch-and-review plan: we monitor growth at regular visits and only act if something genuinely needs acting on.
Where treatment is worthwhile, it usually means one of a small set of tools: a palate expander to widen a narrow upper jaw, support to retire a sucking habit, holding space where a baby tooth was lost early, or a short course with a growth appliance. Early work like this is sometimes called interceptive or Phase 1 treatment, and the research supports it for specific problems rather than across the board. In children with an underbite, early treatment reduced how many later needed jaw surgery (Mandall et al., 2016). Holding space as the adult teeth arrived resolved lower front-tooth crowding without extractions in 60% of the children in one study (Brennan & Gianelly, 2000). Removing a baby canine at the right time helps a displaced adult canine come through in more cases (Almasoud, 2017). For prominent front teeth, early treatment lowers the risk of injury but does not make later treatment shorter (Batista et al., 2018). So we recommend early treatment only where it has a clear purpose, and we say when it does not.
Does an Early Check Mean Early Braces?
No. Braces this young are rare, and an early check does not put your child on a conveyor belt towards them. What it does is establish a baseline, catch the problems that reward early action, and give you a clear picture instead of a vague worry. Many families leave an early assessment with reassurance and a review date, and nothing else.
Good to know
Common Questions
Should I tape my child’s mouth shut at night?
No. Mouth taping has spread on social media, but a 2025 systematic review found weak evidence of benefit and a potentially serious risk of harm, particularly where the nose is blocked (Rhee et al., 2025). Children’s airways are small, and a child who breathes through the mouth usually does so for a reason, such as enlarged tonsils, allergies or a narrow upper jaw. Finding that reason is the safer path.
What age should my child have their first orthodontic check?
Around five to seven. Early enough to see how the jaws are growing, and early enough that most problems are still simple.
Will early treatment mean my child avoids braces later?
Sometimes, but not always. For some problems early treatment reduces what is needed later; for others it protects the teeth without shortening later treatment. We tell you which applies to your child.
Curious, or Concerned? Start With a Look.
A free orthodontic and airway consultation for your child: gentle, unhurried, and honest about whether anything needs doing at all.
The free orthodontic and airway consultation includes a discussion of your concerns, a visual examination, general information about suitable options and an approximate plan and quote. It does not include diagnostic records, X-rays, photographs or a formal diagnosis; these are quoted separately if you choose to proceed, and your plan and quote may change if they show anything not visible at the examination. No obligation. One complimentary consultation per person. Orthodontic treatment is provided by general dentists with additional orthodontic training.
The research behind this page
- Harari D, et al. The effect of mouth breathing versus nasal breathing on dentofacial and craniofacial development. The Laryngoscope, 2010.
- Huang YS, Guilleminault C. Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and the critical role of oral-facial growth. Frontiers in Neurology, 2013.
- Chervin RD, et al. Inattention, hyperactivity, and symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing. Pediatrics, 2002.
- Bonuck K, et al. Sleep-disordered breathing in a population-based cohort: behavioral outcomes at 4 and 7 years. Pediatrics, 2012.
- Rhee J, et al. Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review. PLOS One, 2025.
- Mandall N, et al. Early class III protraction facemask treatment reduces the need for orthognathic surgery: a multi-centre, two-arm parallel randomized, controlled trial. Journal of Orthodontics, 2016.
- Brennan MM, Gianelly AA. The use of the lingual arch in the mixed dentition to resolve incisor crowding. American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, 2000.
- Almasoud NN. Extraction of primary canines for interceptive orthodontic treatment of palatally displaced permanent canines: a systematic review. The Angle Orthodontist, 2017.
- Grippaudo C, et al. Association between oral habits, mouth breathing and malocclusion. Acta Otorhinolaryngologica Italica, 2016.
- Batista KBSL, Thiruvenkatachari B, Harrison JE, O'Brien KD. Orthodontic treatment for prominent upper front teeth (Class II malocclusion) in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018.
Inline Smiles Dental & Orthodontics: orthodontic treatment provided by our experienced general dentists. Where specialist care is in your best interest, we will tell you and refer you. This page is general information only, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment recommendation. Research findings describe groups, and individual results vary; suitability for any treatment is assessed individually.