Why Your Patient’s TMJ Problem May Be Your Predecessor’s Orthodontic Case
News & Blog From my days in dental school in the mid-1960s, the subject of TMJ has been cloaked in controversy, conjecture, dogma, and fear — and framed by some as beyond the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of mortal dentists. I call the 1980s the “TMJ Decade,” with notable gurus giving courses at least every […]
MARPE in Adult Patients: A Clinical Decision Framework for When — and When Not — to Use It
News & Blog Disclaimer: The remarks that follow are heavily influenced by my own experience in orthodontics, which predates temporary anchorage devices of any kind by decades. Readers should know that I expanded my own maxilla 7 mm non-surgically and without TADs in the early 1990s, as well as my wife’s maxilla approximately 10 mm […]
Why Airway Orthodontics Is Going Mainstream — And What That Means for Your Practice
News & Blog I was quietly practicing airway orthodontics at a time when there were only a handful of us in the world. I had recognized a severe health problem and wanted to do what I could to help young kids. I knew what I was doing was pretty much the opposite of the standard […]
Informed Consent in the Airway Era: Litigation Is on the Rise — Are You Telling Patients Enough Before Starting Treatment?
News & Blog Informed consent during most of my practice career was easy and pretty much a non-issue. Litigation wasn’t a big deal in the 1970s, except apparently in California, where the California Association of Orthodontists drafted an informed consent form for its members. I practiced in Vermont and, like most other orthodontists, used that […]
Sleep Apnea Is a Traumatic Brain Injury of the Night: The Case for Airway-Centered Orthodontics
News & Blog A traumatic brain injury makes most of us think of a pro football player or boxer having his “bell rung.” We can all picture the physical trauma of soft brain tissue impacting hard bone and understand what trauma means. But in reality, brains can sustain injuries just as damaging in the long […]
The Extraction Debate Is Not Over — Even Though It Should Be
News & Blog An inventor seeking to produce a perpetual motion machine might get advice from orthodontists who have successfully kept the extraction/non-extraction debate in motion for well over a hundred years. As a brand new orthodontic resident at the University of Minnesota, I assigned myself the task of reading and scanning all the refereed […]