The short answer is: there is no “best age” to get braces.
Generally speaking, Dr. Laurent likes to evaluate all children at age 7 to see if there would be any benefit from early intervention which sometimes includes braces. And at any age, if we see there is a serious problem arising, we can put on braces to address those complications.
The next “normal” time that we’d consider putting on braces is after eruption of all your adult teeth. That can vary from age 9 – 16 depending on the patient. I encourage people not to wait until all baby teeth have fallen out for a consultation for a few reasons. Some of the baby teeth and adult teeth look alike, so it may be difficult to know if they’re all gone! Also, as we’ve mentioned before, sometimes the adult teeth can be in a bad position (or even missing!) and will not erupt on their own – so you can wait for years and years on eruption that won’t ever happen without orthodontic intervention.
If you’re thinking about orthodontics at any age, give us a call at (707) 938 – 5255. We’d love to look at your child’s teeth and discuss the most appropriate treatment and timing for you!