Craniofacial Orthodontic Treatment and Care.

Craniofacial treatment often begins early in life, sometimes within the first couple of weeks after birth for conditions like cleft lip and palate. During this time, our team may use presurgical techniques such as nasoalveolar molding before surgical repair. For other craniofacial conditions, treatment can begin in infancy or early childhood and continue in phases throughout your child’s growth, with orthodontic care, surgeries, and follow-up treatments spaced out over years.

As craniofacial conditions and their treatment needs can vary wildly, the right timing depends on your child’s specific diagnosis. Early evaluation by a team allows for a craniofacial treatment plan tailored to your child’s condition and timed to take advantage of their natural growth and development.

For many craniofacial conditions, yes: multiple surgeries, as opposed to a single procedure, are common. This is because craniofacial treatment often needs to keep pace with a child’s growth; a surgical correction performed in infancy, for example, may need to be refined as your child’s facial structure develops through adolescence. Moreover, our team addresses different aspects of craniofacial conditions like cleft repair, jaw alignment, and orthodontic correction in separate stages, each at the optimal time for that specific intervention.

Although multiple surgeries can initially feel overwhelming to parents, our multidisciplinary team at Atlanta Orthodontic Specialists can help ensure that each step builds towards the best possible long-term outcome.

Orthodontists play a critical role in craniofacial care, working alongside surgeons and other experts throughout the treatment process. Before surgical procedures, an Atlanta orthodontist will need to align your child’s teeth and jaws to prepare for surgery. This is similar to the preparatory work done before orthognathic surgery. Following the procedure, orthodontic treatments continue to help fine-tune the bite and alignment as healing progresses and your child grows. For some craniofacial conditions, orthodontists may also use tools like palatal expanders to address jaw width issues that contribute to the overall craniofacial presentation.

As craniofacial treatment lasts for years, your Atlanta orthodontist will become one of the most consistent members of your child’s care team.

Not always. While many craniofacial conditions like cleft lip and palate are visible at birth, others may not become evident until later in infancy or early childhood as growth patterns emerge. Conditions like craniosynostosis, for example, become apparent when a baby’s head shape doesn’t develop as expected. Nevertheless, this isn’t obvious in their first few days of life. Similarly, conditions like craniofacial dysplasia are usually diagnosed later in childhood, often between the ages of 3 and 15. During these years, symptoms like facial asymmetry and misaligned teeth often first become noticeable.

This reality is one of the reasons why ongoing pediatric checkups, including dental and orthodontic assessments, are so valuable. Scheduling a pediatric orthodontics consultation provides an opportunity to catch developing craniofacial concerns that may not have been apparent at birth.

Insurance coverage for craniofacial treatment depends on your child’s specific condition, the treatments involved, and your individual insurance plan.

Most insurance providers view craniofacial conditions as medical, not aesthetic, as they can impact functions like eating, breathing, and speech. Thus, many aspects of treatment have a reasonable likelihood of receiving insurance coverage, particularly when there’s documented functional impairment. That said, medical and dental insurance coverage can differ greatly, and certain components of treatment (just like specific orthodontic appliances) may fall into gray areas.

At Atlanta Orthodontic Specialists, we work closely with families to help them navigate insurance questions and identify financing options, when necessary.

The initial craniofacial consultation centers around information-gathering and building a clear picture of your child’s conditions and needs. To that end, our team will review medical and family history, perform a thorough evaluation, and discuss any concerns you may have as a parent.

As craniofacial treatment often involves multiple specialists, this first visit is also where we begin coordinating with other members of your child’s care team, including surgeons and pediatricians.

Rather than walking away with a single, fixed treatment plan, expect the first visit to be the starting point for an ongoing, flexible, and personalized roadmap.