Isnt it too early to straighten teeth if all the permanent teeth havent come in?
It is not always necessary to defer treatment until all permanent teeth have erupted. There are problems, which in fact, can and should be addressed before all permanent teeth have erupted. For example, if upper front teeth in an eight-year-old child are positioned behind the lower front teeth producing what we describe as “crossbites”, this can and should be addressed as early as possible. If you see a large opening between the upper and lower front teeth when the back teeth are in contact, we call this an open bite. Frequently these open bites are the result of ongoing finger sucking and improper tongue position when swallowing. Often a simple appliance to prevent finger and tongue habits can be place to correct such a problem. If an upper jaw is narrower than the lower jaw you may frequently see crowding of the upper front teeth as well as a crossbite of the back teeth. This can be corrected by expanding the upper jaw with a device called a Rapid-palatal expander sometimes called an
