Early orthodontic treatment can be started while some of the primary teeth (baby teeth) are still present in the mouth. An evaluation can be done as early as 6 years old to determine if the jaws are growing properly to develop enough room for all the permanent teeth. Normally, you should see spaces between the primary upper and lower front teeth. The permanent front teeth will be larger in size than the primary teeth and the spaces allow room for the permanent teeth to erupt correctly into the mouth. If there are not any spaces between primary teeth, then the jaws are too small and the permanent front teeth will not have enough room. This may result in delayed eruption of the permanent teeth, or they will come in crowded and misaligned.
When the four permanent front teeth do not have enough room to erupt into the mouth they may push out six of the primary teeth to gain room to erupt. The jaws will not develop correctly, and there will not be enough space for the remaining permanent teeth to erupt later. If left untreated at this time, extraction of permanent teeth may be needed in the future to straighten the teeth.
Underdeveloped jaws may cause many other problems other than just crowded teeth. Headaches, jaw joint pain (TMJ), ear and neck pain can result from a misalignment of the bite resulting from crowded teeth. The palate of the upper jaw is the floor of the nasal cavity. A narrow, underdeveloped palate can contribute to poor nasal breathing, causing the child to become a mouth breather.
In order to swallow properly, the tongue must rest against the palate, and if the palate is narrow and underdeveloped, swallowing will be affected. The tongue may then push forward and prevent the upper and lower front teeth from touching. This is called an "open bite" and can affect speech. The tongue could drop backwards into the throat compromising the airway. This can result in snoring and sleep apnea. Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing for short periods of time during sleep. This can be a serious medical condition causing daytime sleepiness, accidents, poor concentration, and it can contribute to ADHD and poor performance in school.
Correction of all these problems should begin as soon as possible, ideally between 6-8 years of age. At the age of nine, the roots of the primary molars may be too short to support the appliances needed to correct the problems. Small wire appliances (shown in the picture -- please visit my website, link below) are fit over the primary molars. These are left in 24/7, and removed at each appointment and activated to expand the size of the jaws. These appliances are comfortable, hygienic and do not interfere with the loss of primary teeth or the eruption of the permanent teeth. Treatment time is usually 12-18 months. This treatment is orthopedic and develops the jaws to their normal dimensions in width, height and forward growth.
A second phase of orthodontic treatment is usually needed between 11-13 years old, when all the primary teeth are lost and the permanent teeth have erupted into the mouth. Treatment time is approximately 12-20 months and utilizes fixed braces or other appliances to finish aligning the teeth and the bite.
The goals of early orthodontic treatment are to:
1) Develop the jaws to make room for all the permanent teeth.
2) Improve tongue function to correct swallowing, breathing and speech.
3) Eliminate headaches, TMJ pain, ear and neck pain that is caused by the bite.
4) Correct sleep apnea.
For more information, please visit our website for a brochure that further explains the services provided at our office. (Information below.)
Dr Kennedy moved to Grand Junction in 2003 with his wife, Liz, a registered nurse. Previously, he had practices in Detroit and Denver. He has limited his dental practice to the treatment of TMJ dysfunction, dental orthopedics and orthodontics, and the fabrication of dental appliances for snoring and sleep apnea. Office phone: 970/242-1900; Website: www.dentocranial.net [1]
His pieces on Lumigrate can be found in the forum related to things of the head in the section related to chronic pain, fatigue and fibromyalgia at http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/head/... [2]. Please also refer to The Cranial Academy for providers in your area who have similar treatment approaches at: http://www.cranialacademy.com/ [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.dentocranial.net
[2] http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/head/mental-conditions-headache
[3] http://www.cranialacademy.com/
[4] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/early-orthodontic-treatment-6-8-year-olds#comment-1468
[5] http://twitter.com/lumigrate
[6] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/early-orthodontic-treatment-6-8-year-olds#top
[7] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/login?destination=node/884%23comment-form
[8] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/register?destination=node/884%23comment-form
[9] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/early-orthodontic-treatment-6-8-year-olds#comment-1469
[10] http://www.newsytype.com/13010-potatoes-in-schools
[11] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/early-orthodontic-treatment-6-8-year-olds#comment-1472
[12] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/renegade-lunch-lady-chef-ann-cooper-grate
[13] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/early-orthodontic-treatment-6-8-year-olds#comment-2401
Comments
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
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [5] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
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 [10]
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 [12]
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [5] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
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.
Dr Kennedy moved to Grand Junction in 2003 with his wife, Liz, a registered nurse. Previously, he had practices in Detroit and Denver. He has limited his dental practice to the treatment of TMJ dysfunction, dental orthopedics and orthodontics, and the fabrication of dental appliances for snoring and sleep apnea. Office phone: 970/242-1900; Website: www.dentocranial.net [1]
His pieces on Lumigrate can be found in the forum related to things of the head in the section related to chronic pain, fatigue and fibromyalgia at http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/head/... [2]. Please also refer to The Cranial Academy for providers in your area who have similar treatment approaches at: http://www.cranialacademy.com/ [3]