Paediatric orthodontics and anxiety: all you should know

Written by: Dr Chaw-Su Kyi
Published: | Updated: 13/04/2023
Edited by: Conor Lynch

We recently spoke to highly esteemed London-based orthodontist, Dr Chaw-Su Kyi, to talk about dental care for young children. We quizzed her about how fear and anxiety in young children is dealt with by Dr Kyi and her team, and what the many benefits of having orthodontic care are, particularly for young people.

Is it normal for young people to feel nervous before having orthodontic treatment?

For many children, this is their first experience of any active dental treatment. A large portion of our young child patients are in their early teens when they start having treatment for braces. The good news now is that it is quite common to wear braces. Nowadays, there is no stigma attached to wearing braces.

 

We are very fortunate because we don’t have a lot of patients that are very nervous. To be honest, it is normally the parents who are more nervous than anything else.

 

What are the benefits of having orthodontic care?

There are plenty of benefits of having orthodontic care. The main ones include the following:

 

  • having straight teeth
  • having a good overbite
  • healthy teeth
  • functional teeth

 

When you have, for example, a larger overbite, or say for example, your upper front teeth are protruding forwards, there is certainly a risk of certain trauma, particularly in younger children. Correcting an overbite for long-term stability and long-term health is extremely important.

 

In today’s society, we are living in an extremely image-conscious way. Nowadays, children are very aware of how they look and of how their peers might think they look. Some children will of course feel extremely self-conscious and may not want to show their teeth.

 

Building that confidence and seeing them develop is just incredibly rewarding. We see how they blossom into very self-confident teenagers, smiling, chatting, and beaming self-confidence.

 

Why or how can these reasons help young patients overcome their anxiety?

Knowing what our patients’ concerns are is a huge step towards helping them overcome their anxiety. It’s about seeing what the end result is going to be, and why they want to achieve it.

 

What do orthodontists do to manage fear and anxiety in young patients?

When you know and understand what is going to happen, anxiousness and fear seem to quickly disappear. We make the whole procedure very comfortable even before the patient comes in for any brace implementation. We will even send them videos of the procedure so they can see how easy it is.

 

We will ensure to answer all the questions they may have. Describing the procedure and showing them how exactly it will be done certainly squashes any fear or anxiety.

 

Dr Chaw-Su Kyi is a highly proficient and esteemed London-based orthodontist. She is an expert when it comes to paediatric brace treatments. Consult with her today via her Top Doctors profile.

By Dr Chaw-Su Kyi
Orthodontics

Dr Chaw-Su Kyi is a London Specialist Orthodontist who specialises only in orthodontic brace treatments. Dr Kyi has considerable experience in all brace and teeth straightening options from working in multiple world class London hospitals. She won an impressive quadruple distinction at Guy’s, King’s and St.Thomas’s Medical School, and received a prestigious distinction in her Orthodontics Masters degree. Following this, she has continued to deliver exceptional care and excellence to all her patients. She runs her own private clinic, West London Orthodontist.

As a means to deliver exceptional quality care, Dr Kyi set up her own practice where she could also develop innovative techniques that match the unique necessities of each of her patients. One of these technologies is the iTero scanner, which provides both 2D colour images and 3D laser scanning of teeth without any discomfort in only one minute. All structures of the tooth and mouth cavity are imaged, allowing Dr Kyi to give a full clinical evaluation of gingivitis, tooth structure, provide a dental impression, and more. Dr Kyi uses this technology beyond the initial scan, as it is also used to follow the progress of the patient over years.
 
By concentrating only on orthodontics, Dr Kyi has been able to set herself apart from general dentists who typically perform many other procedures. A unique treatment is the "Incognito" braces (lingual braces), which of whom Dr Kyi is one of only a few orthodontists in London who offer this. She has been offering this service for more than 10 years, invariably giving her an in-depth understanding of how the technology works and how it is best suited for her patients. Dr Kyi is a Platinum User of the Incognito braces, as well as a Platinum Provider for Invisalign; meaning she has not only treated a significant number of patients with these technologies, but she has also received extensive training. In addition to her knowledge and expertise in orthodontic technology, Dr Kyi is a championing advocate for intervention in children to determine long-term solutions rather than difficult treatments later in life. This type of care for her patients is one of the many reasons she has received multiple awards.

Dr Kyi was most recently recognised as the Best Specialist Orthodontist of the Year in London 2020, awarded by The Oral Health and Dentistry Awards. This organisation recognises progress, effort, and enterprise amongst those in her field within the UK. Dr Kyi provides unbiased treatment, takes on patients who have been declined at other clinics, and continuously develops the best technologies for the best treatments.

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