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

You will most often hear the word in passing at an ordinary checkup, because growth and alignment get a look every time your child is in the chair. That makes orthodontics less of an announcement here and more of a running observation that started at the first visit.

If teeth ever need guiding rather than watching, that care stays inside this practice. Dr. Whitesides provides comprehensive orthodontic care at our Fort Myers office, so families are handed to a colleague rather than to a stranger across town. 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.