TONGUE TIE By Jeff Dahm, DDS SURPRISE: Releasing The Tongue To CoRReCT sysTemiC and oCClusal disfunCTion Fig. 1 Fig. 2 F unctional and airway disor-ders are commonly impli-cated as causative factors or aggravating factors in dental malocclusion. Although many authors make statements to this effect, treatment recommendations for these problems are widely varied. We, as dentists, focus on the dental occlusion and the face, but airway and functional disorders have vast reaching systemic effects on the body, and dental malocclusion is just one of the many. Both upper airway obstruction and tongue-ties have been implicated as driving factors in forward head posture also known as craniocervical extension. In the following case, both were present for the patient named Alex. Learning to recognize the manifes-tations of these disorders will help us to more successfully treat orthodon-tic patients who suffer from them rather than fighting a malocclusion that is functionally driven and then watching it relapse after treatment. 36 Summer 2020 JAOS
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society Summer 2020: Page 36
