Normally, full “braces” should not go on the teeth until all the permanent teeth have come in (erupted) including the upper and lower 2nd molars or so called “12 year molars”...but there are a few exceptions as always. In some females full braces might go on at age 10 and in some males as late as age 14. It is intended that braces be placed on all the permanent teeth including the upper 2 molars and that’s why one should not start full treatment until they have come in or they will just have their braces on longer. Also the eruption of the upper molar could influence the diagnosis and treatment planning of the case.
Non-extraction (not taking out bicuspid teeth) is not a treatment goal by a treatment plan. Skeletal patterns, archlengths and archwidths, and openbite have a lot to do with the need to remove some teeth to treat the case. Every case could by treated non-extraction, but that doesn’t mean it would be the correct thing to do. In orthodontics one has to treat the FACE, the TEETH and the JAW JOINTS and hence there are goals that attempt to treat all three:
- The best Tooth and Facial Esthetics
- A healthy periodontium
- Healthy Jaw Joints
- Ideal Tooth & Jaw Joint Function
- The most stable result possible
- Answer the Dentist’s & Patient’s Concerns (Roth/Williams Philosophy)