EDITOR’S WELCOME Greg Cannizzo, DDS, CDE, JAOS Editor 3617 Municipal Drive, McHenry, IL 60050 Phone: (815) 344-2282 • Fax: (815) 344-5815 Email: drgrc@joltmail.com ASSOCIATION STAFF Adam Griswold AGpO Executive Director Academy of Gp Orthodontics 509 E. Boydston St. Rockwall, TX 75087-3956 (800) 634-2027 E-mail: agriswold@academygportho.com Thomas N. Chapman, CAE AOS Executive Director American Orthodontic Society 11884 Greenville Avenue, Suite 112 Dallas, TX 75243 (800) 448-1601 E-mail: tchapman@orthodontics.com EDITORIAL STAFF Greg Cannizzo, DDS ............... AGpO Editor Jordan Balvich, DMD ................ AOS Co-Editor Jim Mcllwain, DDS, MSD .......... AOS Co-Editor Lisa A. Wright .................. AOS/AGpO Managing Editor Email: lisa@wrightgrp.com EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD Azita Anissi, DDS ..............................AOS Robert Allen, DDS..........................AGpO Ron Austin, DDS............................AGpO Chris Baker, RN, DMD......................AOS Eugene Boone, DDS.......................AGpO Felecia Burridge, DDS ....................AGpO Marc Dandois, DDS .......................AGpO Fred Der, DDS ................................AGpO Debra Ettle-Resnick, DDS .................AOS Joe Fallin, DDS...............................AGpO Edward Gonzalez, Jr., DMD..............AOS Sam Gutovitz, DDS........................AGpO Joe Haack, DDS .................................AOS John N. Hanchon, DDS ....................AOS Roy Holexa, DDS ...........................AGpO David W. Jackson, DDS ....................AOS Thomas Jacobson, DDS .................AGpO Kyle McCrea, DDS .........................AGpO Michael Newman, DDS ....................AOS Mitchell S. Parker, DDS.....................AOS Leslie R. Penley, DDS .....................AGpO Kurt Raack, DDS ............................AGpO Joseph R. Schmidbauer, DDS............AOS Robert Shirley, DDS .......................AGpO Jill Snyder, DDS .............................AGpO Barry Sockel, DDS ..........................AGpO Juan J. Solano, DDS ..........................AOS Kurt Stodola, DDS..........................AGpO David Thorfinnson, DDS..................AOS Walter Tippen, DDS.......................AGpO John Wells, DDS ............................AGpO William Wyatt, Sr., DDS ...................AOS As dental professionals who do orthodontics, we create better smiles and better lives. We provide much more of a service than just straightening teeth for our developing young patients. We have opportunities and an obligation to recognize and stop orofacial deformities before they become worse. We have opportunities to help change with what a child is living. We are more than just tooth fixers and strengtheners. We possess a skill and knowledge to change the lives and affect the future health of our adult and young patients. Early treat-ment and recognizing sleep apnea and airway management in children is the tool to create better smiles and better lives. Multiple factors affect the growth and development of human faces. The major factor contributing to the development of a balanced face is the airway. Environmental conditions, nutrition, exercise, habits and family history all play a role in the development of a beautiful face and body. Evidence indicates that an open airway has a primary and perhaps the ultimate responsibility for proper development of the face. Donald Enlow published his first research on how bone was formed in 1962. For the next 40 years, he devoted his life to understanding facial growth. He showed the development of the face is a complex event that takes place over the entire lifetime of a person, and he indicated that genetics have a lesser role in its growth and development. Enlow said, “Everything that develops, develops around the airway. The airway is the central hub of devel-opment, any event that alters the free flow of air passing over the airway causes dysplasia.” 1 Airway obstruction can be defined as a lack of patency of the airway. Tonsils, adenoids, a small narrow palate, and other obstructions located with in the airway alter the free flow of air through the nose over the turbinates and in and out of the lungs. There is a window of opportunity for ideal growth. Sixty percent of the head is formed by age nine. Most patients come to our office for the first time between the ages of three and four. Thus, we have five years to evaluate and alter patterns of growth and development. Recognizing and correcting airway obstruction as well as early orthodontic treatment to correct the possible deformities caused by airway obstruction are important to address as early as possible. The studies of Witzig and Spahls 2 suggest that between the ages of 9 and 12 malocclusions become 25 percent worse or more severe. “Why wait to correct the problem when we have the option of improving the quality of life for the child now and the adult they will become?” 3 Ninety percent of malocclusions that occur during development are dentoalveolar, but with the entrap-ment of the occlusion during growth, skeletal problems are created. We are beginning to recognize the dangers of doing nothing with enlarged tonsils, enlarged adenoids, and engorged turbinates during the time of growth when these structures have the most impact on facial growth. We know that when we diagnoses early and treat early we increase the opportu-nity for the patient to develop normally. 4 The earlier airway and growth problems are corrected, the more benefits a child reaps. Dr. Robert Ricketts, an internationally recognized orthodontist and professor said, “One major reason for producing early skeletal harmony in the jaws is that muscle attachment references are changed and both the direction and amount of facial muscle action is altered.” In other words, when the upper and lower jaw bones are in a healthy relationship with each other, the muscle’s pull is healthy in both the direction of pull and amount of pull. 5 “The earlier the treatment of dysfunction, the earlier normal function and morphology can be developed, which includes the potential for normal growth.” 5 Orthodontic research has conclusively shown that “bad bites” get worse with age. Imbalances that cause an improper bite only become more intense, the longer they are allowed to exist. As Dr. Chris Baker, President of the AOS, explained to me years ago an orthopedist corrects bone deformities as early as possible after birth. He does not choose to wait until the child has quit growing and then fracture the bones and reset them. Early orthopedic and orthodontic treatment as well as recognizing the importance of a good opened airway takes advantage of the ongoing growth of a child so that we can use it for their maximum advantage. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Enlow, D.H. Hans, M.G. Essentials of Facial Growth, W.B. Saunders. Co. New York, 1996. Witzig, John, Spahl, T. The Clinical Management of Basic Maxiofacial Orthopedic Appliances, Vol. ll Diag-nosis, 1989, Section 11, pp 381-685. Tipton, William P. Beautiful Balanced Faces The First 9 Years: The Most Critical Time: IJO Vol. 17 No. 3 Fall 2006. Alper, C.M., Bluestone, C.D., Casselbrant, M.L., Dohar, J.E., Mandel, E. M. Advanced Therapy of Otitis Medis. B. C. Decker Inc., Hamilton Ontario. 2004 pp210-213. Baker C, Face The Facts. Your child’s Smile. Newman Book -Prima Publishing, Roseville CA., 2007. Advertiser Index Accutech Orthodontic Lab, Inc. ..................2 Academy of Gp Orthodontics ....................25 American Orthodontic Society ........................21 AOS Connect ..............................................64 Clinipix, Inc. ................................................8 DENTSPLY Raintree Essex ..........................51 Dolphin Imaging Systems ..........................37 emodel ® by GeoDigm Corp. ......................47 Gator Games, LLC ......................................52 Johns Dental Labs ................................20, 50 Lancer Orthodontics ....................................4 Myofunctional Research ..............................3 Ordont Ortho Labs ......................................9 Ortho Organizers ......................................63 OrthoPlusSeminars ....................................43 Paradise Dental Supplies ............................10 RMO ..........................................................12 Vector Dental Corporation ........................53 6 March/April 2011 JAOS
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society March-April 2011: Page 6
