Dateline: Minneapolis, MN — June 1972
He has a Class II malocclusion. She has a Class I malocclusion with severe crowding. He has a Class III malocclusion. She is a low mandibular plane patient. He is a high mandibular plane patient.
All of these were dictated by genetics and unrelated to anything else in the body.
That is what I learned early in my orthodontic residency.
Whether that was the intended message or not, it was the message that I and the other five orthodontic residents absorbed and took home with us every night.
It always seemed odd to me that these conditions were genetically determined and not related to anything else in the body.
At the time, I was only two years out of dental school with two years of experience placing mercury amalgam fillings in the teeth of U.S. Air Force officers and enlisted personnel.
I didn’t ask questions.
I accepted all of this as fact.
After operating under these assumptions and treating patients as I was taught for about seven years, I began to question certain things.
Then I met other orthodontists who had the same questions — but who had already changed their practices to better help their patients.
They recognized that malocclusions are not genetically determined.
They recognized that malocclusions are the result of altered resting oral posture.
They recognized that everything in the body is connected to everything else.
How could it not be?
One can only deceive oneself for so long.
In 1981, I launched myself on a continuing education journey that has never ended.
I changed everything starting in the early 1980s and continued evolving throughout my active career, which ended three years ago.
Even now, in semi-retirement, I continue to learn — and I know that this process will never end.
Incorporating new ideas into a traditional orthodontic practice can be scary for doctors.
It means stepping out of a familiar and comfortable mold.
But it should not be scary.
Our patients and parents are often smarter than we are.
Many have read James Nestor’s book Breath and want more than straight teeth.
They have connected the dots between poor sleep and breathing patterns and issues such as inattentiveness, snoring, bedwetting, open-mouth posture, poor body posture, and learning challenges.
When treatment helps improve any of these issues, patients are elated.
They tell their friends.
The practice grows as the place to go for whole-body health.
Airway is part of the problem.
Poor nutrition is another part.
An altered gut biome is another.
Overuse of mobile devices and electronics also plays a role.
Patients and parents are reading books such as:
And many others.
If your patients know more than you do about whole-body health, you need to get ahead — and stay ahead.
You must be in a position to deliver appropriate care and make proper referrals to specialists.
Doctors who understand that lifestyle issues affect nearly everyone build practices that flourish.
It becomes rewarding work.
Straight teeth are still important — but they are no longer at the top of the wish list.
For many patients today, being healthy, vibrant, and thriving matters far more.
