My father was an orthodontist who was taught to enlarge the jaws to make room for crowded teeth. When I trained 25 years later any jaw expansion was ridiculed because it ‘relapsed’. As a student I also noted that civilized humans are the only mammal with crowded teeth.
I worked out that crowded teeth were not due to inheritance but to life-style.
- household allergies that bloc the nose,
- soft food which causes weak muscles and
- shortened breast feeding which upsets tongue posture).
In 1951 I was taught to use ‘Functional’ appliances and later found that they were most effective when the mouth was closed. I designed an appliance to teach patients to keep their mouth closed subconsciously. This was very effective and appeared to eliminate almost all malocclusion as well as creating good-looking faces. However it was difficult to use and very dependent on co-operation.
Orthodontists are mostly trained to correct crooked teeth by mechanical means, extracting teeth if there is not room. Fixed appliances are very good at aligning the teeth but I find they spoil facial appearance by retracting the front of the face. They also shortens the life of the teeth by five to ten years and may cause jaw joint and breathing problems. Orthodontists strongly deny this and oppose Orthotropics.