Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that guides teeth and jaws into line.

In kid words

"Orthodontics is the part of the dentist world that helps guide your teeth and jaw into a comfortable line, sometimes with braces." It isn't one visit or one tool, it's more like your dentist keeping a friendly eye on how your smile is growing, checkup after checkup. Plenty of kids hear this word for years before they ever need braces, if they need them at all.

The parent version

Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that focuses on guiding the position of the teeth and jaws, generally aimed at a bite and smile that meet comfortably over time. As a field it spans a wide range, from simply watching how a child's mouth is growing to the tools used later to help guide teeth into place, such as traditional braces and retainers.

Every child's growth runs on its own timeline, so what orthodontics ends up meaning for one family can look nothing like it does for another. For some children it is years of watching and little else. For others it becomes a period of guided movement. Ask your pediatric dentist what any of it looks like for your own child.

Where you might hear it at our office

Growth and alignment are checked at every routine visit, so orthodontics is rarely a surprise here, it is simply the next chapter of watching that has been happening all along. When guided movement becomes the right next step, Dr. Whitesides, our orthodontist, takes it from there, with comprehensive orthodontic care offered at the Fort Myers office.

That means no separate building and no new team to get used to, just a short walk down the hall from the dentist your child already knows. The orthodontics side of our practice walks through what happens at each stage in more detail, and the rest of the Kids' Dental Dictionary is one click away if another word from today's visit still needs translating.

Related words

Words that often come up alongside orthodontics: bite, malocclusion, and retainer.