Orthotropics 14. Age for treatment. Precis. What age should parents be advised about the cause of malocclusion and should treatment be started before the growth spurts at seven or twelve? My father was told it should be five I was taught thirteen and my son was taught when the permanent teeth had erupted. Which is […]
Orthotropics 13. Contrasting Orthodontic Concepts. Precis. Most dental and orthodontic students attend university to learn how to treat patients, so they inevitably learn past methods. Some will stay with these all their life, others will change their ideas; maybe more than once. For many it has not been until near the end of their careers […]
Orthotropics 12. Measuring Facial Shape Precis. Brodie and Bolton developed different ways to demonstrate facial form, especially of the profile. Most orthodontic super impositions are based on the Sphenoid bone but this may not be as stable as we have believed. The Gnathiometer uses the Frontal bone for superimpositions which enables the forward growth of […]
Orthotropics 11. Changing Facial Aesthetics Precis. Orthodontists naturally focus on the teeth while most orthotropists think the face is more important. Most fixed appliances tend to retract the face while orthotropics moves it forward. Some illustrations are shown of different forms of treatment. Lecture 11.This is the principal objective of Facial Orthotropics. I think I […]
Orthotropics 10. Assessing Facial Aesthetics In session five we discussed the benefits of an attractive face and how they were related to forward growth and in session six, how the Indicator Line will measure facial development. There are many other ways of recognising facial features. Almost all authorities agree that symmetry is important and many […]
At birth all babies are obligate nasal breathers. This is because it would be fatal for them in the womb if they inhaled amniotic fluid. However many of them subsequently develop short or long-term nasal obstruction and are forced to breathe through their mouth. For some this is temporary, but for others it develops into […]
My father taught me the advantages of maxillary expansion which in his day was routine for 5 year olds unless they could place a 2mm coin between each front tooth, but when I graduated 30 years later, I was taught not to expand as it always relapsed. However the research of Skieller in 1964, using […]
As you all know, every patient attending for treatment should be informed about both the advantages and disadvantages of every treatment. This is not as easy as it sounds and we must be careful not to pass our own convictions on to patients without mentioning any drawbacks. For instance almost all orthodontics these days is […]
Precis. Diagnosis for orthotropics is very different from orthodontics. You are measuring the shape of the face and deciding what has caused any unattractive features. An orthotropist needs to learn how to recognise poor development and decide on the best way to correct it which is almost always to encourage forward growth of the Maxilla […]
