Early Orthodontic Treatment for 6-8 Year Olds

Jim, I really appreciate your providing this piece to Lumigrate. I'm hoping it will help people who have an influence on children, whether parents, grandparents, teachers, school therapists, therapists who see children, etc.

I believe a lot of people use what was 'of their day' as a point of reference.  Doing orthodontics on such young children is likely something a lot of people aren't aware of.  

I have recently been communicating with a family/mother who has a child with some special needs, nobody's quite sure exactly what to diagnose or treat, but they definitely have been proactive, initually using insurance-based providers to the end of what that type of provider could contribute, and the parents then saw the need to do things which were private pay.    

It was not in their mental 'budget' initially to factor in the costs of interventions that insurance does not pay for, and what seemed to help them make that 'shift' was saying that 'you might think of it as an 'investment' in the short run that will reduce their overall costs in the long run.'  

This is what early orthodontics sounds to me to be. Suffice it to say: I'd estimate that an ounce of correction at age 6 is worth a TON of 'cure' for a person in their lifetime overall.  I hope that all parents can find this information and sooner or later find a way to afford the treatment that can help their child BREATHE and sleep well, be pain free, eat all the nutritious but difficult items, and be able to speak eloquently and with confidence. 

Live and Learn! Learn and Live Better!! Mardy

great post you have here..:) thanks for sharing it with us.. There is really a great difference between the practice before that what is usually done today. So let's go for innovation and embrace change, after all it's for a good cause..:)

another good thing which will improve our child's health is the recent law that  the United States Department of Agriculture has lately been making efforts with. The nutrition of school meals can often be an issue of much debate, so a new law is now in the process to make meals in schools much healthier for our kids. The restrictions on school meals would have integrated an important restriction on the amount of potatoes that could be served. The Senate, however, has been blocked by the Senate. Source of article: Potatoes will stay in schools, for now
 

Sarah, thank  you for making that comment and bringing a link in that you like to back up what you're commenting on. GRATE stuff!   I went and got the link for the piece on Lumigrate for The Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann Cooper.  She 'virtually' came to Grand Junction this spring (2011) for a FUNdraiser for a public school garden project, and Lumigrate had a booth at the event to support this VERY critical issue of school lunches.  

It's really funny that you would read this and comment today; on Saturday I had stopped off after getting my hair cut clear on the other end of town and was enjoying a healthy fish/food place when Dr Kennedy and his wife and another golfing couple happened along! I joked that he caught me without my oral appliance in but I WAS eating and at least I was eating something healthy! (and chose a more healthy of the wines too, I might add.  We ARE living in Wine Country here in Western Colorado.)  

Not having had children, and having chosen not to work in public schools based solely on the way they would pay on teacher's scale not 'therapists scale' as other states do (and I was heavily recruited to work in the school district The Renegade Lunch Lady/Ann Cooper is  head of food services for), I'd not seen a school lunch since 1978 when I graduated from Evergreen High School here in Colorado. It's the biggest school district in the state and the mountains west of Denver had become a destination for many very well off people to move and raise their children in 'nature'.  So I likely never saw an 'average' school lunch in my life in the FIRST PLACE.  

Then I started watching the TV show by Jamie Oliver about school lunches on the east coast/southern part of the United States and I was just stunned! When I formed the LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley in 2011, Monica Cullinane was one of the first people I asked to help get the group going, as she owns Academy of Yoga in downtown Grand Junction and I'd hoped we might use her space for a meeting; she was happy to provide.

Monica's children go to a local school with a BIG project of starting the garden on site, and she was very active in the fundraising for it; and I always participated because it was simply such a worthy cause, because truly we do have our best 'bet for the future' by focusing on today's children .. we simply HAVE TO not pass along to this upcoming generation the bad habits of our society which has created this mountain chronic illness rate.  

She told me after our first meeting, in her Brazilian accent "I am passionate about nutrition like you are about getting providers and the public to understand what fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue are." And she's always made her space available for us to meet but unfortunately always has to go off to companies and teach employee eating/wellness! (or maybe yoga too, she's extremely qualified in both), so wasn't able to really 'participate'.  Others who did made some really good connections which changed the course of their practices in two cases and we all kind of settled into a resting/waiting mode for the end of 2011. I was working on bringing new people into Lumigrate and then we'd head out again in 2012.      

Which brings us back to Dr Kennedy, as that included him and his  R.N./health education wife Liz, who started a consulting company, "Cardiovascular Essentials", which is included in the palate of information at Lumigrate.  In her consumer/patient consultations she assesses cardiovascular status with a simple, computerized 'gadget' and discusses findings and presents remedies and refers on if appropriate.  They have become active in participation at events for the LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley and we look forward to having more 'cross pollination' with area providers and grow to have health education talks which will also be captured and provided at Lumigrate.  

So please find them here at Lumigrate for more pieces in their unique and diverse yet overlapping specialties (nutrition and eating), and find the LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley on facebook if you like! It's intended to be for locals to find the top providers in our area but the links take you to their pieces on Lumigrate, and this allows people anywhere in the US or beyond to perhaps find a similar provider in their area.  In Dr Kennedy's case, following out to his website would be my recommendation as he'll have information there about the types of organizations he links and likes and you'd be able to find a similar 'holistic' dentist where you are.

Again, Sarah, thank you for this outstanding statement and helpful/supportive link! Here's the topic I wrote about related to foods and children and seeing The Renegade Lunch Lady speak (via Skype to a sold out crowd)-- she has a neat website!  ~~ Mardy

www.lumigrate.com/forum/renegade-lunch-lady-chef-ann-cooper-grate

Many things cause underdevelopment of the jaw structures.

Diet in several ways is very important. The quality of the food we eat is important for growth and development. The quality of the diet is a factor, meaning raw foods, whole grains and other foods that require us to use some chewing force to masticate is an important factor that contributes to development of the jaws.

Allergies, asthma and chronic colds and runny noses block nasal breathing and force us to mouthbreath and this sets up what has been presented in the article.

Finally, we cannot rule out genetics. This plays a part in everything about how our body grows and functions. I believe good quality foods, exercise and a healthy lifestyle can overcome poor genetics and prevent some inherited genes from being triggered and having an effect on us.

I'm pleased to see this information being utilized by so many people using Lumigrate as part of their health education, and thank you, Mardy, for the comments you made, above.