Developmental Arch Orthodontics

Beautiful Smiles

Are you experiencing the signs and symptoms of impaired jaw growth? Developmental Arch Orthodontics can help.
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Beautifully Balanced Smile

Did you know that sleep apnea, crowded teeth, chronic mouth breathing, poor oral health, gum disease, behavior disorders and poor posture have a connection? You may be surprised to find out this connection is jaw size, or rather, the impaired jaw growth that prevents the jaws from reaching their full potential.

When the jaws fail to grow as intended, the effects can be serious and cause aesthetic concerns affecting the profile and mid-face, in addition to oral and dental health issues such as tooth decay, tooth overlapping, an unbalanced bite, enamel damage and an increased risk of developing chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

And while it sounds rare, jaw development issues are relatively widespread. Because so many people are affected by them, they’ve become normalized in society. Treatments such as tooth extractions, jaw surgeries and years of wearing braces have become care standards to fix jaw development problems.

But, what treats the problem itself? One treatment to correct jaw development issues is developmental orthodontics from Breathe Modern Dentistry.

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Common Symptoms of Jaw Development Problems

Some of the common symptoms of impaired jaw development include:

Elongated Face

When the upper jaw isn’t adequately supported, it can drift down and back, causing the lower jaw to pull the lower part of the face down. This effect gives an overall more extended appearance to the face.

Excess Gum Tissue

Is your smile “gummy”? For many people, when the upper jaw sags down, the gums covering the upper jaw area above the teeth also stretch, making the gums look longer and the teeth look shorter.

Crowded Teeth

When your jaws do not fully develop and are smaller than genetically intended, the result is less room for your teeth to erupt. When there’s less room for the teeth, that means teeth become crowded, which can affect dental health and the bite. Additionally, wisdom teeth frequently become impacted. Fact: Hundreds of years ago, most people kept their wisdom teeth!

Smile Constraints

If the tongue does not support the upper jaw correctly, the palate grows higher (known as a vaulted palate) and significantly more narrow than intended. In some instances, this can also result in smaller nasal passages, which could impact breathing.

Improper Head Posture

If the jaws are further back, the tongue is also back further in the mouth. The consequence of this is a smaller airway, which causes you to have to lean forward subconsciously to breathe normally.

Chin Impacts

When the chin drifts down and back, the lower jaw is also affected and drifts down and back, causing a higher angle to the lower jaw and a “weak chin.”

Muscle Pain

The muscles of the face stabilize a “bad bite” due to improper development of the jaws, making the muscles around the jaw joints work harder. When this happens, muscles become tired and sore.

Risks of TMD

Poor jaw position and the dysfunction it causes frequently result in pain and dysfunction in the temporomandibular joints (TMJs).

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The Causes of Jaw Development Problems

There are three leading causes of jaw development problems.

Chronic Mouth Breathing

Chronic mouth breathing can develop as a result of several factors but plays a role in jaw development issues. This is because mouth breathing involves lowering the tongue from the roof of the mouth to take a breath, which reduces the force on the palate from the tongue, preventing the palate from growing to its intended size.

Poor Tongue Posture

If your tongue is not correctly postured against the roof of the mouth, you’re at risk of developing an improper swallowing pattern, which can also affect jaw growth because the forces needed for growth are displaced.

Poor Lip Seal

Jaw development requires proper tension from the muscles of the face, too. When the lips are not postured together correctly and properly sealed, the tension of the facial muscles changes, and the bone tissue in this area does not get the signals it needs to develop correctly.

Other causes of jaw development problems include:

  • Tongue-tie
  • Inadequate or improper myofunctional (tongue) habits
  • Poor oral behaviors, such as prolonged pacifier use or thumb sucking
  • Genetics

Who Can Benefit from Developmental Orthodontics?

Anyone with jaw development issues! Jaw development correction is possible at any age. By acting early to take advantage of the growth remaining in children or the body’s ability to adapt as adults, we can correct jaw development deficiency and any symptoms related to the deficiency in most cases.

Getting Diagnosed

Are you experiencing the signs and symptoms of impaired jaw growth? We can help. We will take diagnostic records to effectively diagnose you, including digital scans and a 3D cephalometric analysis. After this analysis, we will form a customized treatment plan to address your jaw development issues.

Treatment

Treatments for jaw development problems can include oral appliance therapy to reposition the jaw and address discrepancies to improve the mid-face region’s size and shape.

After treatment, we also offer patients Controlled Arch Orthodontics, which can help correct the bite and re-align the smile after your jaw development issues are corrected.

Are you interested in learning more about developmental orthodontics? Call us now to schedule a consultation.

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Contact

Are you interested in learning more about developmental orthodontics?

Call us now to schedule a consultation.