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Before: "Art in process." Molly in mixed dentition with orthodontic treatment begun.
After: "The finished work." Molly as a student at Texas A&M University (besides the fabulous smile, note the Corps of Cadets uniform).
Art ~ Expressing the author's imaginative or technical skill, producing works that are beautiful, to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
What could be more beautiful than the gorgeous smile of someone you love?
Think of the emotional power that smile has!
Orthodontics is art in the truest sense. I love the definition above, “expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill.” The author is the orthodontist.
The imaginative skill makes it possible to visualize the beautiful smile that hides behind the “wonky” teeth and bite.
Without a mind picture of what the smile could be, there is no goal. The big, bold goal of orthodontics is the most gorgeous smile possible. And, the technical skill used is the engineering!
So, once again, love and orthodontics. Without love there is no impetus for the imaginative picture of what the smile can be, and thus, they weave together, using the energy, motivation, and desire of the patient and of the orthodontist.
In the end, the art is beautiful and appreciated every time your smile is shared. Sharing your smile has been shown to reduce stress hormones - yours and theirs, increase health - yours and theirs, and enhance the mood hormones - yours and theirs!
Your smile shared, lowers your blood pressure, AND the blood pressure of the people who see your smile.
Talk about powerful and life-changing emotional power - a fabulous form of art!
What could be more beautiful than the gorgeous smile of someone you love?
Think of the emotional power that smile has!
Orthodontics is art in the truest sense. I love the definition above, “expressing the author’s imaginative or technical skill.” The author is the orthodontist.
The imaginative skill makes it possible to visualize the beautiful smile that hides behind the “wonky” teeth and bite.
Without a mind picture of what the smile could be, there is no goal. The big, bold goal of orthodontics is the most gorgeous smile possible. And, the technical skill used is the engineering!
So, once again, love and orthodontics. Without love there is no impetus for the imaginative picture of what the smile can be, and thus, they weave together, using the energy, motivation, and desire of the patient and of the orthodontist.
In the end, the art is beautiful and appreciated every time your smile is shared. Sharing your smile has been shown to reduce stress hormones - yours and theirs, increase health - yours and theirs, and enhance the mood hormones - yours and theirs!
Your smile shared, lowers your blood pressure, AND the blood pressure of the people who see your smile.
Talk about powerful and life-changing emotional power - a fabulous form of art!
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Use of electronic games, phones, computers and pad computers can train children to poor posture and forward head position.
Open-mouth posture in a child (probable airway issues).
Adenoid Facies
Low tongue position caused malformation of face and a Class III bite.
A severe open bite, resulting from forward tongue position.
Effects of thumb-sucking on a patient's bite.
Orthodontics is a blend of engineering and art. Engineering - design and mechanics - includes
• architecture (the plan),
• physics (movement),
• chemistry (body physiology),
• ongoing changes in the smile, and
• work to stabilize the results in a dynamic (changing) human body.
How does the body change?
I tell the kids, “The toe bone is connected to the tooth bone,” like the old song. Indeed, the teeth, the bone around the teeth, the muscles and ligaments attached to the teeth, bone and joints, are connected to the muscles that hold and move our heads. They are also connected to the muscles and bones of the neck which are connected to the muscles and bones of the back, and the shoulders and arms and the hips, and the legs, down to the toes.
Each part of the body affects the rest of the body. That's the reality of it.
When a tooth is biting or chewing, ALL those connections are in play. Really. Then, we think about moving teeth orthodontically and “fixing” them. But, the teeth are moving targets, like shooting a Nerf dart toward a slowly shifting target.
Wouldn’t it be nice if braces could put teeth into a nice smile and bite and you’d be done? It doesn’t work that way.
Even without braces, everything constantly changes under and around the teeth. Baby teeth go, permanent teeth come. Bones grow. Muscles respond.
And, then other stuff is going on in the mouth - chewing, biting, grinding, clenching, nail-biting, sucking habits, chewing on pens… These all create forces on the teeth.
The tongue, cheeks and lips should balance each other with the tongue inside and the cheeks and lips outside, so the teeth sit comfortably between. Often they don’t.
For example:
Conley breathes through his mouth - a lot. Mouth open and the tongue pushing forward and down, so the lower jaw grows down.
Agnes is a mouth-breather too - her tongue pushes forward against her front teeth and jaw which grow more forward into a Class III.
And Andre’s thumb habit keeps his tongue low and allows his cheeks to push in on the upper jaw. So, his maxilla is too narrow, and he needs expansion.
Robbie slumps forward to play on his phone or iPad. Robbie’s back neck muscles are pulled longer and as his head becomes used to that posture, the bones grow to where the muscles are pulling.
After a few brief years of this in his young life, Robbie’s head and neck now droop forward. His teeth now bite differently (not in a good bite), than they would if his posture were more ideal.
Before, during and after braces, the teeth and smile live with amazing ongoing forces, from every direction.
But, while in braces, it is up to our engineering to work with, and “on”, and in spite of, these forces, to “fix” the teeth. The engineering of orthodontics.
Tomorrow -- the art of orthodontics.
• architecture (the plan),
• physics (movement),
• chemistry (body physiology),
• ongoing changes in the smile, and
• work to stabilize the results in a dynamic (changing) human body.
How does the body change?
I tell the kids, “The toe bone is connected to the tooth bone,” like the old song. Indeed, the teeth, the bone around the teeth, the muscles and ligaments attached to the teeth, bone and joints, are connected to the muscles that hold and move our heads. They are also connected to the muscles and bones of the neck which are connected to the muscles and bones of the back, and the shoulders and arms and the hips, and the legs, down to the toes.
Each part of the body affects the rest of the body. That's the reality of it.
When a tooth is biting or chewing, ALL those connections are in play. Really. Then, we think about moving teeth orthodontically and “fixing” them. But, the teeth are moving targets, like shooting a Nerf dart toward a slowly shifting target.
Wouldn’t it be nice if braces could put teeth into a nice smile and bite and you’d be done? It doesn’t work that way.
Even without braces, everything constantly changes under and around the teeth. Baby teeth go, permanent teeth come. Bones grow. Muscles respond.
And, then other stuff is going on in the mouth - chewing, biting, grinding, clenching, nail-biting, sucking habits, chewing on pens… These all create forces on the teeth.
The tongue, cheeks and lips should balance each other with the tongue inside and the cheeks and lips outside, so the teeth sit comfortably between. Often they don’t.
For example:
Conley breathes through his mouth - a lot. Mouth open and the tongue pushing forward and down, so the lower jaw grows down.
Agnes is a mouth-breather too - her tongue pushes forward against her front teeth and jaw which grow more forward into a Class III.
And Andre’s thumb habit keeps his tongue low and allows his cheeks to push in on the upper jaw. So, his maxilla is too narrow, and he needs expansion.
Robbie slumps forward to play on his phone or iPad. Robbie’s back neck muscles are pulled longer and as his head becomes used to that posture, the bones grow to where the muscles are pulling.
After a few brief years of this in his young life, Robbie’s head and neck now droop forward. His teeth now bite differently (not in a good bite), than they would if his posture were more ideal.
Before, during and after braces, the teeth and smile live with amazing ongoing forces, from every direction.
But, while in braces, it is up to our engineering to work with, and “on”, and in spite of, these forces, to “fix” the teeth. The engineering of orthodontics.
Tomorrow -- the art of orthodontics.
Text and images © 2016 Dr Chris Baker
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ABU DHABI -- It occurred to me today in the clinic that it is truly “love and orthodontics.”
There is nothing more joy-making than the beautiful smiles of the children and teenagers that I treat.
Oh, maybe there is - the incredibly wonderful connections with the children and their parents. It’s the happy grin of the bashful little Maryam I see as I approach her sitting in the corner of the reception room couch, drawing on paper. She won’t quite look up - she just grins and keeps drawing - until I am standing right there, and insist on getting a hug. Now the grin broadly covers her face and she stands and gives me a long, affectionate and happy hug.
Here in Abu Dhabi a medical (dental) office is called a “clinic.” Our clinic is the Advanced American Dental Center. What I do there is love and orthodontics.
One of the dads today said, “You know you are famous?” I thought for a minute, and realized, and said, “I do love being famous with the children.” Indeed. Famous because so many schoolmates see each other there at the clinic. (It’s fun how, to children, their teachers and dentists are “famous.”)
I regale Claude every night with stories of my day. And he patiently and interestedly listens. Oh do I have the best husband!
Tonight Claude and I walked down the steps of the clinic toward our white Honda CRV. Claude had parked it right at the clinic entrance.
I was anxious to tell Claude about Natalie’s mom offering to give me her daughter. But, our attention was taken by a calico Arabian Mau cat, walking from under our car, pausing to notice us, and our pausing to notice her.
Natalie and I had a talk about how and where to brush her teeth more effectively, and how the reason her retainer doesn’t fit now is inadequate wear.
And her mom asked me, “Do you miss Molly a lot?”
“Of course I miss my sweet (daughter) Molly a lot.”
Natalie’s mom, smiling wryly, “So would you like to take Natalie home with you?”
Me; ”I would take her in a heartbeat; but then you would miss her.” Both of us smiled at each other and Natalie.
There is nothing more joy-making than the beautiful smiles of the children and teenagers that I treat.
Oh, maybe there is - the incredibly wonderful connections with the children and their parents. It’s the happy grin of the bashful little Maryam I see as I approach her sitting in the corner of the reception room couch, drawing on paper. She won’t quite look up - she just grins and keeps drawing - until I am standing right there, and insist on getting a hug. Now the grin broadly covers her face and she stands and gives me a long, affectionate and happy hug.
Here in Abu Dhabi a medical (dental) office is called a “clinic.” Our clinic is the Advanced American Dental Center. What I do there is love and orthodontics.
One of the dads today said, “You know you are famous?” I thought for a minute, and realized, and said, “I do love being famous with the children.” Indeed. Famous because so many schoolmates see each other there at the clinic. (It’s fun how, to children, their teachers and dentists are “famous.”)
I regale Claude every night with stories of my day. And he patiently and interestedly listens. Oh do I have the best husband!
Tonight Claude and I walked down the steps of the clinic toward our white Honda CRV. Claude had parked it right at the clinic entrance.
I was anxious to tell Claude about Natalie’s mom offering to give me her daughter. But, our attention was taken by a calico Arabian Mau cat, walking from under our car, pausing to notice us, and our pausing to notice her.
Natalie and I had a talk about how and where to brush her teeth more effectively, and how the reason her retainer doesn’t fit now is inadequate wear.
And her mom asked me, “Do you miss Molly a lot?”
“Of course I miss my sweet (daughter) Molly a lot.”
Natalie’s mom, smiling wryly, “So would you like to take Natalie home with you?”
Me; ”I would take her in a heartbeat; but then you would miss her.” Both of us smiled at each other and Natalie.
