BICUSPID EXTRACTIONS and the 'dished in' faces
'Four on the floor' and orthotropics
I am digressing a bit from the impacted canine subject, but as with anything that involves some problem in your child's health, or whether to do a procedure or not, you have to look for information, you look for help, you try to figure out whom to trust. I happened on the 4-bicuspid-extraction stories on the videos below, and 'orthotropics' and 'funcional orthodontics' as I was looking around the web. The stories of kids who had their faces ruined and, as it sounds, their lives almost ruined, are very sad, and you get angry on behalf of children who have suffered the adverse outcomes of a 'standardized' procedure gone wrong. Also, you wonder why it is still being done today if the treatment has a foreseeable bad result.
The orthotropic proponents' videos below are very adverse to routine 'extract (premolars= bicuspids) & retract' to straighten teeth when there is 'crowding'. As I understand, most orthodontists, aware of the detrimental side effects that develop over the years, now expands the arch instead to make the room. (Somewhere it said that only 15% of kids get the premolars extracted done in California, while 50% in the UK). Drs Mew, Dr Hang and patient Carrie below describe how the old fashioned 'extract & retract' elongates the face and make the mouth smaller, the cheeks flatter, the lips thinner, the nose larger, prematurely aging the whole face. One dentist did the 'four on the floor' procedure to his son on the advice of the orthodontist, and said that looking at the result, his adolescent son now had the sunken in face of an old man. There are also other implications when the proportions of maxilla, mandibel and teeth are not functioning together properly, such as as breathing problems, sleep apnea, snoring, headaches, TMJ (temperomandibular joint dysfunction), and to top it off you end up depressed. Judging from the web, teeth are still being extracted like this, when it seems everyone should know better.
I'm not quite sure what orthotropics is yet, but check it out yourself. Another website is damagedfaces.com. Professor John Mew and his son, Dr Michael Mew, work at the Mew Clinic in London (www.themewclinic.co.uk) under the motto : 'Sensible honest advice about orthodontics from someone with a passion about what they do'. (They do online consultations for a fee.) In California there is Dr Bill Hang in southern California (www.facefocused.com). (He also does online consultations for a fee.) Some orthodontists and dentists belong to
the International Association of Orthodontics (iaortho.org).
Some orthodontic measures, such as extracting teeth, are irreversibel (though Dr Hang describes how he 'opened up a bite' on the first patient getting this reversal treatment, putting in implants, and improving the patients face, eliminating her headaches).
When it comes to traction and impactions, as a radiologist/orthodontist, told me, it is not like parallel parking a car, you can't go back and forth and adjust until you feel perfectly happy with the result, some actions will put the teeth in a position where there is no return. You want to do it right the first time.
Orthodontics is also a major expense. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. How do you know if an orthodontist is competent? Who is in it for the money, working on patients in bulk according to an assembly line principle: Always have 3 or 4 patients in chairs, keep it moving. It might make sense when it is just a matter of changing elastics, but in some instances, there needs to be some thought put into it, and some patients do want to know what is happening and what the plan is. Just surfing around the web, there are many unhappy stories, patients wandering around for years without getting proper help. At the initial meeting the prospective orthodontist of your child will give you full attention, but how do you know that your kids teeth are going to get adequate attention all the way till completion.
I'm starting to get a feeling that orthodontists make their own how-to's and theories, and orthdontia in general seems not without controversy. Below are some youtubes orthodontia results to scare you a bit. I think everyone should approach dentists, orthodontists and oral surgeons with some caution. It's only in this age of the internet, that the stories of the not so successful orthodontic ventures can be generally known. Orthodontic offices and scientific paper only display their good results, but they have also created some 'dished-in' profile, as in the #2 video below, and it is painful to realize that had things been left alone, the guy would not have had to go through jaw surgeries after his orthodontic 'treatment'.
I don't know if all the orthotropic theories presented in the videos make sense, I'm posting it more as proof that there are different theories out there, and if you just see one orthodontist, make sure he/she makes sense to you.
The bicuspid extraction stories are scary. The story of Carrie, bottom right, is a heartbreak, her story of 'the Orthodontics as the Empire of Evil', another of Carrie's video, is poignant.
Bottom line, orthodontics can be miraculous, or disastrous, always expensive...do you feel lucky?
(So don't just 'trust', research as much as possible.)
I am digressing a bit from the impacted canine subject, but as with anything that involves some problem in your child's health, or whether to do a procedure or not, you have to look for information, you look for help, you try to figure out whom to trust. I happened on the 4-bicuspid-extraction stories on the videos below, and 'orthotropics' and 'funcional orthodontics' as I was looking around the web. The stories of kids who had their faces ruined and, as it sounds, their lives almost ruined, are very sad, and you get angry on behalf of children who have suffered the adverse outcomes of a 'standardized' procedure gone wrong. Also, you wonder why it is still being done today if the treatment has a foreseeable bad result.
The orthotropic proponents' videos below are very adverse to routine 'extract (premolars= bicuspids) & retract' to straighten teeth when there is 'crowding'. As I understand, most orthodontists, aware of the detrimental side effects that develop over the years, now expands the arch instead to make the room. (Somewhere it said that only 15% of kids get the premolars extracted done in California, while 50% in the UK). Drs Mew, Dr Hang and patient Carrie below describe how the old fashioned 'extract & retract' elongates the face and make the mouth smaller, the cheeks flatter, the lips thinner, the nose larger, prematurely aging the whole face. One dentist did the 'four on the floor' procedure to his son on the advice of the orthodontist, and said that looking at the result, his adolescent son now had the sunken in face of an old man. There are also other implications when the proportions of maxilla, mandibel and teeth are not functioning together properly, such as as breathing problems, sleep apnea, snoring, headaches, TMJ (temperomandibular joint dysfunction), and to top it off you end up depressed. Judging from the web, teeth are still being extracted like this, when it seems everyone should know better.
I'm not quite sure what orthotropics is yet, but check it out yourself. Another website is damagedfaces.com. Professor John Mew and his son, Dr Michael Mew, work at the Mew Clinic in London (www.themewclinic.co.uk) under the motto : 'Sensible honest advice about orthodontics from someone with a passion about what they do'. (They do online consultations for a fee.) In California there is Dr Bill Hang in southern California (www.facefocused.com). (He also does online consultations for a fee.) Some orthodontists and dentists belong to
the International Association of Orthodontics (iaortho.org).
Some orthodontic measures, such as extracting teeth, are irreversibel (though Dr Hang describes how he 'opened up a bite' on the first patient getting this reversal treatment, putting in implants, and improving the patients face, eliminating her headaches).
When it comes to traction and impactions, as a radiologist/orthodontist, told me, it is not like parallel parking a car, you can't go back and forth and adjust until you feel perfectly happy with the result, some actions will put the teeth in a position where there is no return. You want to do it right the first time.
Orthodontics is also a major expense. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. How do you know if an orthodontist is competent? Who is in it for the money, working on patients in bulk according to an assembly line principle: Always have 3 or 4 patients in chairs, keep it moving. It might make sense when it is just a matter of changing elastics, but in some instances, there needs to be some thought put into it, and some patients do want to know what is happening and what the plan is. Just surfing around the web, there are many unhappy stories, patients wandering around for years without getting proper help. At the initial meeting the prospective orthodontist of your child will give you full attention, but how do you know that your kids teeth are going to get adequate attention all the way till completion.
I'm starting to get a feeling that orthodontists make their own how-to's and theories, and orthdontia in general seems not without controversy. Below are some youtubes orthodontia results to scare you a bit. I think everyone should approach dentists, orthodontists and oral surgeons with some caution. It's only in this age of the internet, that the stories of the not so successful orthodontic ventures can be generally known. Orthodontic offices and scientific paper only display their good results, but they have also created some 'dished-in' profile, as in the #2 video below, and it is painful to realize that had things been left alone, the guy would not have had to go through jaw surgeries after his orthodontic 'treatment'.
I don't know if all the orthotropic theories presented in the videos make sense, I'm posting it more as proof that there are different theories out there, and if you just see one orthodontist, make sure he/she makes sense to you.
The bicuspid extraction stories are scary. The story of Carrie, bottom right, is a heartbreak, her story of 'the Orthodontics as the Empire of Evil', another of Carrie's video, is poignant.
Bottom line, orthodontics can be miraculous, or disastrous, always expensive...do you feel lucky?
(So don't just 'trust', research as much as possible.)
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