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When it comes to initial screening for potential orthodontic problems the target age is usually seven.
That's the age when most children have lost their front teeth and their adult teeth are starting to come in.
But dentists aren't just looking for crooked teeth. The bigger concern at that age is skeletal issues or problems with job positioning.

An overbite, for example, isn't necessarily a dental problem. Rather the lower jaw may be too small or the upper jaw may stick out too far.

Intercepting orthodontic problems early on can potentially prevent crooked teeth from coming in or a future need for extensive jaw surgery.

Habits such as thumb or finger sucking, lip biting and chewing on various objects are other issues that affect tooth alignment and dentists also screen for signs of these.
Those things need to be intercepted fairly early because they can cause bones to be deformed to the point that a child's bite and tooth positions are affected.

In our office children are evaluated for orthodontic development at every preventative care (check-up) appointment and referrals are made as necessary.

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Kids Orthodontics