Braces for children
Children's braces do two jobs. They straighten teeth that have come through crowded or out of line, and they correct the way the upper and lower teeth meet. The second job matters more than parents often expect, because a bite that does not fit together properly wears teeth unevenly and makes them harder to keep clean for the rest of a child's life.
Timing is the part most people get wrong. Braces are not something to hold off on until every adult tooth has arrived, nor something to rush into at the first sign of a crooked tooth. We assess children from around age seven, when enough permanent teeth are through to show how the bite is developing. Plenty of children seen at that age need nothing at all for several years, and we will say so.
When treatment is needed it usually falls into one of two stages:
- Early treatment, roughly ages eight to ten, where a crossbite, a narrow upper jaw or a badly protruding front tooth needs sorting before it causes damage.
- Full treatment, usually from age eleven or twelve once the adult teeth are through, using fixed braces on both arches.
Referrals reach our Ballinteer Road clinic from dentists across south Dublin, but you do not need one. Parents can book directly.
Book a consultation for your child.
What treatment involves for a child
Brackets are bonded to each tooth and joined by a wire. The wire applies light, continuous pressure and the bone around each root remodels to let the tooth move. Nothing is forced, which is why this takes months rather than weeks.
What to expect:
- Fitting the braces takes about an hour and is not painful, though teeth are usually tender for three or four days afterwards.
- Adjustment appointments every six to eight weeks at our Dundrum clinic, generally around twenty minutes.
- Most children finish in eighteen months to two years. Early-stage treatment is shorter, often six to nine months.
- Hard and sticky foods have to go for the duration. Broken brackets add time to treatment.
- Retainers at the end, worn at night, long term.
The single biggest factor in how well a child's treatment goes is cleaning. Plaque left sitting against enamel around a bracket leaves permanent white marks, and those do not come off when the brace does. We show every child how to clean properly at the fitting appointment, and our hygienist will go through it again if brushing is slipping.
Book a consultation at our Dublin 16 clinic.
What do children's braces cost?
The fee depends on what your child actually needs, which we cannot know until we have examined them. A single-arch early correction and a full two-arch treatment carried out over two years are very different pieces of work, so we quote after the consultation rather than before it.
You will get a written treatment plan with a firm figure, and nothing is added to it later. That covers the appliance, every routine and emergency appointment, the first set of retainers, and retainer checks for a year after treatment finishes.
Most parents spread the cost monthly, interest free, across the treatment. There is a 5% discount if you settle the fee in full at the start, and orthodontic treatment qualifies for 20% tax relief, so we will give you a completed MED 2 form for your Revenue claim.
Book a consultation at our Dundrum clinic.
The Process
A proper look at your teeth, bite and jaws, and a conversation about what is actually bothering you. We take your dental and medical history, examine you, and take whatever records are needed, which may include X-rays, photographs and a digital scan with our iTero.
You leave knowing what we have found and what the realistic options are, including leaving things alone where that is the right answer.
We review the X-rays, photographs and scan alongside the examination findings and put together a plan specific to you. It sets out the appliance we recommend, how long treatment should take, the fee, and any preparatory work needed first.
This is a two-way appointment. We go through the alternatives, including doing nothing, and answer whatever you want to ask before you decide anything.
Anything that needs sorting before treatment starts. Usually that means a dental cleaning and dealing with existing decay or gum disease with your own dentist, since moving teeth in an unhealthy mouth makes matters worse.
In some cases it also means creating space, either by reducing the width of teeth very slightly or, where crowding is severe, by removing a tooth.
The brackets are bonded to your teeth and the wire is fitted. Nothing is drilled and no anaesthetic is needed, so the appointment is only uncomfortable in the sense of keeping your mouth open for about an hour.
Expect the teeth to feel tender for three or four days afterwards. You go home with wax for any bracket that rubs, and we go through cleaning before you leave.
You come in every six to eight weeks, usually for about twenty minutes. We change the wire, replace the elastics, check the teeth are tracking to plan and adjust where they are not.
These visits are also where we check your cleaning. Plaque left sitting around a bracket marks the enamel permanently, so it is the part worth staying on top of.
The brackets and wire are taken off and the adhesive is cleaned from the tooth surface. It is quick, painless, and usually the appointment people look forward to most.
We scan your teeth the same day, so your retainers fit the position they are in right now rather than where they were a fortnight ago.
Teeth drift back towards where they started if nothing holds them, so retainers are the final stage of treatment rather than an optional extra. Most patients wear a clear retainer at night long term, often alongside a fine wire bonded behind the front teeth.
Retainer checks are included for a year after the braces come off. There is more on our retainers page.
Book a Consultation
Discuss your goals with one of our specialist orthodontists to find out what treatment option suits you best.
FAQs
For full treatment, usually eleven to thirteen, once most of the adult teeth are through. That is when braces can align the whole arch rather than working around baby teeth that are about to fall out.
Some problems are better treated earlier, roughly eight to ten, and a few are better left until growth has finished. There is no single right age, which is exactly why assessment at seven and monitoring afterwards works better than picking a birthday.
Almost everything, with a little adjustment. Soft food for the first few days after fitting, then back to normal apart from the hard and sticky list.
The habit worth building is cutting things up rather than biting into them with the front teeth. Apples, pizza crusts, baguettes and corn are all fine off a fork.
Broken brackets add appointments and add time to treatment, so this is worth taking seriously rather than testing.
It depends on what your child actually needs. A single-arch early correction and a full two-arch treatment run over two years are very different pieces of work.
Most parents spread the cost monthly, interest free, across the treatment. There is a discount for settling the fee in full at the start, and orthodontic treatment qualifies for 20% tax relief through the MED 2 form.
You will get a written plan with a firm figure after the assessment, covering the appliance, every appointment including emergencies, and the first set of retainers.
Most comprehensive treatments run eighteen months to two years. Simpler cases finish sooner, and a short front-teeth course such as Braces Lite is usually six to nine months.
What sets the timescale is how far the teeth have to move and whether the bite needs correcting, not which appliance is used. Cases involving jaw surgery run longest, two to three years across the whole course.
You will get a realistic estimate at your consultation rather than a best-case one.
Rarely full braces, and almost never the full set. At seven there are still baby teeth in place, so treating the whole arch makes no sense.
What a seven-year-old can have is limited early treatment where there is a clear reason: a palatal expander for a narrow upper jaw, correction of a crossbite causing the jaw to shift, or protecting a badly protruding front tooth.
Most seven-year-olds we see need nothing at all yet, and we simply keep an eye on how things develop.
An assessment is the only reliable way, but there are things parents notice: teeth coming through crowded or twisted, front teeth that stick out or do not meet, a jaw that shifts to one side when biting, difficulty chewing, or baby teeth lost much earlier or later than expected.
Thumb sucking continuing past five or six is worth mentioning too.
None of those automatically means treatment. They mean it is worth having someone look. Book a consultation at our Dundrum clinic.
If there is a clinical reason, yes, and the health argument is stronger than the appearance one. A bite that does not fit together wears teeth unevenly and is harder to clean for the rest of their life.
What matters as much is whether your child is on side. Treatment runs eighteen months to two years and depends on them cleaning properly and, for some appliances, wearing them consistently. A child who has been pushed into it tends not to do either.
We talk to the child as well as the parent at the consultation for that reason.
Most children finish in eighteen months to two years with full fixed braces.
Early treatment with an expander or a functional appliance is shorter, often nine to twelve months, though a second phase with braces usually follows once the adult teeth are through.
Two things lengthen it: broken brackets from hard or sticky food, and appliances not being worn. Neither is inevitable, and we will tell you honestly at each visit how it is tracking.
The first week, without much competition. The teeth are tender for three or four days after fitting, and at the same time the lips and cheeks are getting used to the brackets.
After that it gets easier. Adjustments cause a day or two of tightness rather than the same soreness, and by a few months in most people barely notice them.
The end is straightforward. Taking braces off is not uncomfortable.
Every six to eight weeks for fixed braces. The appointments are short, usually around twenty minutes, and mostly involve changing the wire and the elastics.
Aligner reviews are less frequent, every eight to ten weeks. Appliances such as expanders are seen more often at the start while they are being adjusted.
We do our best to work around school where we can, so ask reception when you book.
Not painful, but the teeth are tender for three or four days after fitting and again briefly after each adjustment. Soft food and ordinary paracetamol or ibuprofen handle it.
The other thing children notice in the first week is the brackets rubbing the inside of the lip. Orthodontic wax sorts that, and the tissues toughen up quickly.
Telling a child what to expect beforehand makes a real difference to how they cope with the first few days.
Read what our patients say about us
"I went to so many dentists about my bite problem only to be dismissed. Dr Adriana and her team gave me a plan, I followed it, and two and a half years later I can smile, eat and bite properly."
"Two of my daughters had braces fitted by the lovely Dr. Katherine Condren. I would highly recommend her services, she was so good with my daughters, we are extremely happy with the service received and they both have beautiful smiles now."
"My bonded retainer came loose and several other practices turned me away. Dundrum Orthodontics saw me straight away and had it fixed within minutes."
"Dr Joseph O’Connor is such a skilled orthodontist. His kindness and attention to detail is outstanding. He takes the time to explain everything and makes you feel very comfortable. Could not recommend him more."
"I got Invisalign here in my forties and could not be happier. My daughter had braces with them a few years ago, and my sister brought her daughter on my recommendation. Exceptional service and amazing results."
"Joseph is a kind, compassionate and skilled orthodontist. He has a beautiful patient manner and his attention to detail is second to none. Highly recommend."
"Coming to the end of my braces and I couldn't be happier. The whole team are friendly and professional, and they take their time to make sure the end result is exactly what you want."
"I had a great experience with Dr O’Connor and his team. Booking was simple and they were very friendly & efficient throughout. Would highly recommended."
"My son got his braces off this morning and I am delighted with the result. Over two years, any worries we had were sorted and every question answered, always with a friendly and professional approach."
"Amazing service, highly professional. Dr O'Connor was really kind and knowledgeable. Would highly recommend!"
"Dr O'Connor is a brilliant orthodontist, the consultation was thorough and he's easy to talk to."
"Extremely happy with the outcome after braces, great attention to detail! Highly recommend."
"A long and difficult process was made easy by their care and attention. The attention to detail and professionalism was second to none."
"The staff are extremely skilled as well as friendly and easy to talk to. I am very happy with my results and with how the whole process was handled."
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