Timing orthodontic treatment: early or late?

Abstract

The timing of orthodontic interventions has been a contentious topic for many years with early treatment to address or indeed to prevent skeletal discrepancies in all three spatial planes and to alleviate crowding in common practice. In terms of effectiveness, however, broadly speaking early intervention has not been shown to be superior to later intervention. As such, in view of the additional burden and duration of early intervention, the weight of evidence points to reserving early treatment for localized problems and specific situations with definitive treatment typically initiated in the late mixed or early permanent dentition.