Increase Your Face Value
Guiding Facial Growth in Children
A large portion of what we do here at Deal Family Dental is focused on guiding the growing face in the right direction through orthopedic-orthodontic treatment. However, many children in today’s population develop habits or other limitations that can disturb normal, programmed growth. As a result, some children develop severe crowding once their permanent teeth come in. At Deal Family Dental, we focus on recognizing these disturbances, educating the patient, and guiding the growth of those who have gotten off track due to these issues.
Importance of Early Intervention
Fortunately, if growth gets back on track during the prime developing years (ages 6–9), the need for braces can sometimes be avoided altogether. But even if your children have fallen behind and are outside of the prime facial development years, there’s still hope. With the right care, growth can catch up, and a proper face and smile are still achievable.
Common Habits That Affect Jaw Growth
For example, some common habits or issues that can cause aberrant or irregular jaw growth include thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, mouth breathing, irregular swallowing, grinding, and many others. If you’ve noticed any of these habits in your child at home, set up a consultation today.
The Importance of Growth Guidance in Our Philosophy
Growth guidance is so important in our practice philosophy that it deserves a more in-depth explanation. In fact, studies show that between 80% and 85% of humans have an underdeveloped maxilla (top jaw). Essentially, orthopedic-orthodontic treatment helps get the patient’s jaw development back on track, preventing the negative facial and dental effects caused by altered growth. The main goal of growth guidance treatment is to remove the environmental forces (epigenetics) that hinder growth, allowing the child to fully express their genetic potential.
How Growth Guidance Works
Once these negative environmental forces are removed, the patient’s top jaw can grow normally and extend forward. As a result, the lower jaw naturally follows, improving not only the patient’s smile and facial structure but also their ability to breathe (thanks to increased airway space). This improvement helps avoid issues such as poor esthetics, TMJ problems, and sleep disorders.
Tools and Techniques for Effective Treatment
To achieve these outcomes, we use a combination of myofunctional therapy (which retrains the tongue and lips) and appliances designed with cutting-edge technology. If you’d like to learn more, click the link below or call us to schedule an office consultation. Importantly, this treatment is not limited to children—adults can benefit from it as well.
Preventing Long-Term Problems with Early Detection
Moreover, early detection and prevention of malocclusion (bad bite) and inadequate facial or jaw growth is a key component of Deal Family Dental’s philosophy. If left untreated, these issues can lead to:
Crooked teeth
Poor facial aesthetics
Airway dysfunction
Sleep disorders
TMJ
Let us help guide healthy development before complications arise.
Environmental Factors and Developmental Issues
While most experts agree these problems are not inherited, they often result from environmental or functional influences in growing children—leading to crowded teeth and underdeveloped faces. Fortunately, these developmental issues can be detected at an early age and often are; however, treatment is frequently not recommended. Unfortunately, waiting for braces or tooth extractions during the teenage years does not address the root causes of crowded teeth and poor facial development.
Why Early Intervention Matters
Therefore, the key to successful early orthodontic treatment lies in identifying problems as soon as they arise. Delaying intervention until all permanent teeth emerge can lead to irreversible damage, negatively impacting both the teeth and the child’s overall health and development.
Dr. Deal’s Recommendation for Early Evaluation
To help prevent these outcomes, Dr. Stephen Deal recommends evaluating your child at around age five—or sooner if you have concerns about their development. Early treatment focuses on correcting identified issues by guiding your child’s growth through myofunctional activities and comfortable appliances to support ideal facial and dental outcomes.
Goals of Early Orthodontic Treatment
Ultimately, the goal of early orthodontic care is to promote a beautiful face and a lifelong healthy bite. Your child may be a candidate for early orthodontic treatment if:
Their lips remain apart when sitting quietly or sleeping
They snore during sleep
They grind their teeth
Their mouth lacks space for all their teeth
No spacing exists between their baby teeth
There is a family history of TMJ, sleep apnea, or orthodontic extractions
Treatment Comparison
Below is an informative comparison between Traditional Orthodontics and Deal Family Dental’s Craniofacial Orthopedic treatment.
TRADITIONAL ORTHODONTICS
- Moves teeth
- Active treatment as early as nine years
- Fixed orthodontic appliances
- Treatment usually pushes teeth backward
- Extraction of permanent teeth often required
- 2-3 years of treatment time with long-term retainers
- Ignores myofunctional disorders
- Ignores airway disorders
- Treatment is mechanical
- Wait and see what happens
CRANIOFACIAL ORTHOPEDIC ORTHODONTICS
- Optimizes dentofacial development
- Active treatment 5-6 years
- Fixed and removable appliances
- Treatment positions teeth forward
- No permanent tooth extractions
- Myofunctional therapy is essential during treatment
- Addressing the airway is critical to treatment success
- Treatment is biologic
- Addresses problem as they are identified
List of most commonly presented problems:
- Crowding and crooked teeth
- Overbite
- Underbite
- Openbite
- Mouth Breathing
- Airway and breathing disorders
- Facial esthetics
- TMJ, popping, locking of jaw
What is the cause of orthodontic problems, and why are air and food important?
The Challenge of Malocclusions and Facial Growth Deficiencies
Malocclusions and facial growth deficiencies have been recognized for nearly 200 years. Throughout that time, dentists have struggled to find a lasting solution. Currently, the orthodontic treatment paradigm includes dental arch expansion techniques, the removal of “extra” permanent teeth, or surgical alteration of the jaws. However, these approaches focus solely on the teeth while ignoring the bones, muscles, jaw joints, and airway. Interestingly, the scientific field that has most effectively guided our understanding of human craniofacial growth and development is anthropology—not dentistry. This insight has led to the development of orthopedic-orthodontic treatment, which addresses not just the teeth but also the underlying skeletal and muscular structures.
The Role of Anthropology in Understanding Facial Development
Historically, research in human craniofacial development has centered on embryologic development, not post-natal development (i.e., growth in children after birth). Nevertheless, decades of published textbooks and research in anthropology have revealed crucial insights. These findings help explain why craniofacial structures sometimes fail to grow properly and outline effective strategies for correcting these deficiencies in both children and adults.
Cultural Factors and the Rise of Epigenetic Effects
Moreover, malocclusions and jaw growth discrepancies are rarely genetic. Instead, they are largely cultural in origin. For example, the foods we eat, the air we breathe, and modern breastfeeding practices in Westernized societies have altered the functional demands on developing jaws and teeth. This shift creates what are known as epigenetic effects. Unfortunately, these epigenetic effects negatively impact the teeth, jaws, and related structures.
Innovative Solutions from Dr. Stephen Deal
As a result, many chronic health issues today can be traced back to these developmental deficiencies. For over 20 years, Dr. Stephen Deal has offered gentle, safe, and effective orthopedic-orthodontic treatment to address and reverse these epigenetic effects. In fact, no one else possesses the same level of experience and expertise in solving these complex developmental problems.
Orthodontics is not just for Children.
Many adults have had orthodontic treatment one or more times in their lives. However, many still experience orthodontic relapse, TMJ issues, and sleep apnea. Often, the underlying problem was never properly addressed. In many cases, unresolved myofunctional issues, underdiagnosis, and inappropriate treatment failed to correct growth and development deficiencies.
To address these challenges, Dr. Stephen Deal's exclusive treatment approach begins with a comprehensive history and examination to start connecting the dots. Furthermore, Dr. Deal has developed a unique, in-depth diagnostic protocol that incorporates state-of-the-art technologies and a multidisciplinary review. As a result, we can determine individualized treatment recommendations. Best of all, treatment is non-surgical and highly effective.
Myofunctional Therapy
The BIG 3
Crooked teeth often have little to do with inheritance and everything to do with incorrect breathing, swallowing, and lip function—also known as poor myofunctional habits. In fact, these habits are the primary causes of poor jaw development and misaligned teeth.
To support healthy oral development, focus on:
Lips Sealed
Nasal Breathing
Proper Tongue Position and Function
Fortunately, myofunctional therapy is a type of physical therapy that helps improve breathing, swallowing, and lip function—also known as The Big 3. Moreover, myofunctional therapy can be successfully used by both children and adults, and it can be easily incorporated into a simple, painless daily routine.
Ultimately, myofunctional therapy plays a crucial role in achieving successful orthopedic-orthodontic treatment outcomes for patients of all ages.