Most parents bring a child to an orthodontist when the adult teeth are visibly crooked, usually around age twelve or thirteen. That is not too late for good treatment. But it does mean some of the easiest opportunities have already passed.
The recommended age is seven
By seven, most children have a mix of baby and adult teeth. That mixture is exactly what makes the assessment useful, because the jaw is still growing and the adult teeth have started to declare where they intend to go.
An assessment at seven does not usually mean braces at seven. In the large majority of cases the answer is "everything looks fine, come back in two years." The point is to catch the small number of problems where timing genuinely matters.
What we are actually looking for
Crossbite. Upper teeth biting inside the lower ones. Left alone, this pushes the jaw into an asymmetric closing pattern that becomes a skeletal problem rather than a dental one. Corrected early, it is straightforward.
Severe crowding. If there is visibly not enough room, early intervention can guide the adult teeth into better positions and sometimes avoid extractions later.
Thumb sucking past age five or six. Persistent sucking pushes upper front teeth forward and can create an open bite. Caught early, habit management solves it. Left alone, it needs orthodontics.
Early or late loss of baby teeth. Baby teeth hold space for the adult teeth underneath. Losing one too early lets neighbouring teeth drift into the space, and the adult tooth then has nowhere to come through.
Protruding upper front teeth. These are considerably more likely to be injured in a fall or a collision. That is a practical reason to address them, not a cosmetic one.
Jaw growth mismatch. Upper and lower jaws growing at different rates is far easier to influence while the child is still growing. After growth stops, the same problem may need surgery.
Why growth is the whole point
An adult skeleton is fixed. A child's is not.
While a child is growing, an orthodontist can influence how the jaws develop. That window closes, and once it has closed the same problem becomes either a compromise or a surgical case.
This is the entire argument for early assessment. Not to start treatment sooner, but to know whether this child is one of the few for whom timing matters.
The two-phase approach
Some children benefit from a short early phase around ages seven to nine, addressing a specific structural problem, followed by a break, then full braces once all the adult teeth are through.
This is not standard and it is not for everyone. It is for a minority of cases with a clear structural reason. If a practice recommends two phases for every child, ask them to explain specifically what the first phase achieves that the second could not.
What the assessment involves
Around 45 minutes. An examination, photographs, and usually an X-ray to see the unerupted teeth and the jaw relationship.
You leave with one of three answers: no action needed, review in a year or two, or here is a specific problem and here is the window to address it.
If your child is already twelve or fifteen
You have not missed the boat. The great majority of orthodontic treatment happens in the early teens, once all the adult teeth are through, and it works extremely well.
Early assessment is about catching the small number of cases where waiting costs something. It is not a requirement, and a teenager starting treatment today is entirely normal.
And if you are an adult reading this about yourself
Teeth move at any age, as long as the gums and the bone are healthy. We treat adults regularly, including patients well into their forties and fifties. The biology does not change, only the timeline does slightly.