Chestnut Dental Releases Guide Showing Most Children Do Not Need Two Rounds of Braces

NEEDHAM, MA – October 07, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –

Chestnut Dental Associates has published a new consumer guide explaining that the majority of children do not require two separate rounds of orthodontic care, offering parents a framework for evaluating early-treatment recommendations they may have received from a dental provider.

The resource, a guide to two-phase orthodontic treatment, addresses a common point of confusion for families. Many parents are told that a child should begin treatment years before all adult teeth have arrived, and the guide clarifies when that approach is genuinely warranted and when a single, later course of care produces equal or better results.

According to the guide, phase-1 treatment is necessary only for problems that become harder to correct as the jaw finishes growing. These include a crossbite that shifts the jaw to one side, an adult tooth erupting badly out of position, a thumb habit that continues to reshape the bite past age five, and upper front teeth that protrude far enough to risk injury. Most other concerns, including mild crowding, gaps, rotated teeth, and most overbites, are treated as well or better in one round once the adult teeth have come in, typically between ages 11 and 13.

The guide advises parents who have received an early-treatment recommendation to ask two direct questions: what specific problem phase 1 is intended to fix, and what would happen if the family waited twelve months and had the child re-checked. These questions, the guide notes, help separate time-sensitive conditions from issues that can safely wait.

“Orthodontists are trained to distinguish problems that worsen with growth from problems that simply look urgent to a parent,” said Dr. Adam Donnell, D.M.D., M.S., a board-certified orthodontist and president of the Massachusetts Association of Orthodontists. “A crossbite shifting the jaw or a severely protruding front tooth is time-sensitive. Mild crowding or a gap is not, and starting two rounds of braces in those cases rarely changes the final outcome.”

Donnell added that monitoring is often the appropriate step for younger children. “The strongest tool we have at age seven or eight is frequently patience,” he said. “If a condition can be corrected just as effectively once the adult teeth are in, waiting spares the child additional time in appliances without compromising results.”

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children receive a first orthodontic evaluation by age seven. That early visit allows a specialist to identify the small number of cases that benefit from early orthodontic treatment while reassuring families whose children can wait. The guide emphasizes that an early evaluation and early intervention are not the same thing.

The guide is part of the practice’s ongoing patient education efforts and reflects its approach to orthodontics in Bedford and its other Massachusetts locations.

Chestnut Dental Associates is a multi-specialty dental practice providing pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and adult dental care, with offices in Needham, Franklin, and Bedford, Massachusetts. Serving its community since 1970, the practice coordinates care across specialties and maintains longstanding ties to Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

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For more information about CHESTNUT DENTAL ASSOCIATES, P.C., contact the company here:

Chestnut Dental
Anne Hertzberg D.M.D.
17814446650
anne@chestnutdental.com
87 Chestnut St #1
Needham, MA, 02492, United States