teeth orthodontics versus orthotropics

[tom57]

DC 10 due for 1st appointment with orthodontist for teeth out and a brace,has anyone any experience of going down the orthotropic route?Would be really grateful for any feedback.

Bump-is this in the right topic?

I don;t know what orthotropic is

I don't know what orthotropic is either. My ds has recently had a fixed brace though and his orthodontist has done it without removing any teeth. They do feel he needs 2 teeth out but were happy to see how much they move without him losing the teeth and so far it is all looking good.

The downside is may have to have them out at a later stage but at least we will then be sure they couldn't be preserved.

I sought orthotropic treatment for dd1 - couldn't get into London, found an orthodontist who is an othtropic supporter but he only did 100% private work so treatment cost would have been £6.5k!!!!!

The NHS orthodontists all wanted to leave things as they were and see what happened when she was 14 - this was despite the fact she has a significant underbite which if bracing doesn't fix your talking have jaw broken and wired.

Private bloke said yes he wasn't surprise and probably what would happen at 14 is that they would take teeth out and stick brace on rather than do expansion work as by then it would be too little too late.

Fortunately dd got to see a 3rd orthodontist just before she turned 12 as we moved areas. I paid for the intitial appointment to get seen quicker. I went in saying she needs expansion etc. He said lots of negatives about expansion etc etc. He looked in mouth and agreed yes let's try it quick and hope we're not too late.

Outcome is that I had to pay £500 for a private skeletal expansion brace (different to a dental expansion brace) he has done the rest of the work on the NHS, not sure how he has managed this but I am very happy. Less than a year on expansion is complete, she no longer has underbite, she has train tracks on the top and will be moving to retainer soon. Best of all it dropped her palate down so for the first time in her life she can breath through her nose!

I am very pleased, I had 8 adult teeth removed to make room because I have a small jaw, my smile is hideous as my mouth is narrow it's not an attractive look.

If you can afford orthotropics I'd go for it!

so what is it, car? Changing the shape of the palate?

www.orthotropics.com/

It tends to be expanding the jaw which causes the palate to drop and enables there to be suficient room for all the adult teeth without extracting any.

thanks

Thanks car,really pleased you mentioned the improvement on breathing through nose.I had teeth out and a brace as a child but that caused all sorts of problems with underbite,wisdom teeth,breathing and even the bump on the nose they show you in the video clip!Which I then had to sort out as an adult,not the best solution.dd has all the same traits but it just seems quite radical and not knowing any one else having had the work makes it harder to decide.Am slightly worried as dd can't breath through nose how she would cope with treatment that involves keeping your mouth shut.....Also they do say it hurts but then so did my brace.I've been quoted £4k ish at the london school of orthotropics-surrey.Have app end of Nov to explore options. winetime-sounds good as I'm under the impression that it's the removal of teeth that compounds the problem.God it was easier in our parents day with less choices.

Well if you had traditonal treatment and it caused big problems and your dd has the same traits I would def try the orthotropic root.

Sadly although I live in Surrey Purley is a complete pain in the butt to get to but if I'm not happy with what my younger dds get offered I will pay for orthotropic treatment!

Another Mner has had orthotropics done on her dc, perhaps try the search function? It was possibly a couple of years/18 months ago tthat the post was on here.

Oh I've got location envy now car.Went to college in surrey but now live in cheshire going to be an absolute bugger to get to purley for 1pm.

Is there nowhere nearer on their list I live NW Surrey J11 of M25.

I've to cheshire oaks several times, I have bigger location envy I reckon!

That's weird I'm 10mins from cheshire oaks can't imagine going there especially, everything's either size 20 or size 6.But great to pop in for ten mins after school-half price clarks school school are a must!Search thingy was good,thanks,after reading that I think I might phone John Mew in sussex about 10 mins from my mum-did'nt realise how often dd would go for check ups!I only choose purley because it seems to be the headquarters for orthotropics.

tom - having now had a look at what orthotropics is. I would also go that route if you think that your dd is a good candidate amd would be able to tolerate it.

I wish I'd heard of it before and would have considered it for my ds but he is now too old. It makes me feel better though, that I kicked up a bit of a fuss about not having his teeth out. I had looked at Invisalign and Damon braces for him and they didn't involve removal of teeth so used that as an argument against having teeth out with a standard fixed brace.

Hope it all goes well for your dd.

My daughter started orthotropics in 2006 when she was 8. It is private and although it works out to £3200 it's worth every penny. The change in her face shape is brilliant.

We have an orthodondist here in Southampton that does it. The NHS wsa prepared to leave her as they felt that she wasn't a "bad enough" case to sort out.

If you can afford it, I would suggest you go for it.

Hi Tanners 1
How uncomfortable is the orthotropics process for the child?

I heard that the teeth splay out all over the place at first and that the mouth pieces take a lot of getting used to.

James

The treatment has incredible results and yes, there is a time when it can look a little shocking at the expansion stage but I am thrilled with my daughter's treatment and she has never had any trouble with the appliances - including head gear to bring her top jaw forward. (She never missed a meal!) The kids are encouraged to take pride in their treatment from the start. I am a big fan because I had treatment myself. Check out the website www.orthotropics.com - I think the results speak for themselves.

I know several kids who've gone the Orthotropics route, with really good results.

NearlyNotYoung, could you please describe the headgear, and life with it, as my daughter has had an initial apt. and it was recommended. I wasn't expecting headgear and am wondering how she will cope with it. Did your daughter wear it for about 4 mths?

I answered vintagemum1 but it must have gone privately - so I thought I should share some detail on this thread in case anyone else needed it. My dd had to wear headgear for several months to aid the forward growth of her upper jaw (her bottom jaw was protruding a bit like the dog Spike from Tom & Jerry , so I sought Orthotropics in Purley because NHS would have waited and this may have resulted in jaw surgery in late teens).

The headgear looked worse than it felt (her words not mine - although it actually resembles nothing worse than those headsets at call-centres) and she chose to wear it to school - the more you wear it, the quicker it works... and you can virtually watch the thing working. DD was 8 and after answering a few questions from kids at school, had no problems there either. The headgear is just a small part of the overall treatment, which is SO MUCH MORE than just straightening the teeth. DD has a great smile and beautiful cheek bones now.. and is still younger than most NHS dentists will start treatment - well worth it.

Hi
My daughter is 10 and has a 10mm overjet. I have just booked our 1st appointment with an orthotropics consultant, but I am worrid that they will say she is too old. Please can anyone let me know if any of their children have had this done at this age.

I was told off my dentist to wait till she had all her adult teeth before they would do anything.
Thanks.

Hi I am an Orthodontist working at the Purley clinic, the London School of Facial Orthotropics, it is nice to hear many of the encouraging comments made here. The treatment is not easy, it aims at changing the oral posture of a child, which means that they have to change them selves- hence the difficulty and time required for treatment.

As a general rule we do not start cases over the age of 9 yoa, consequently I feel that it is appalling that information on this treatment (which has been practiced for over 50 years) is so hard to come by, but then that is often the way with treatments that conflict ideologically with main stream thinking.

The treatment requires 10 times as many hours in the chair to complete and we are treating children from Norther Ireland, the Canary Isle and Lake district, who at times had to attend every two weeks.

Like everything in life it is your choice what treatment alternative that you take for your child, however most people do not find out about these options until it is too late, which means that they are denied the choice. As such we are calling for full "Parent Choice" and are trying to get the message out there. Please join us at www.facebook.com/orthotropics or sign up to our campaign for a debate on why teeth are crooked, www.facebook.com/YCrookedTeeth. it amasses me that the profession is treating 30% of the population for a problem while admitting that they do not now the cause and are avoiding a debate on the issue (? normal scientific conduct or fear or losing?).

Thank you for taking the time to read through this and I hope that I help you in your search for the best option for your child.

Mike

This reticent boy with a retruded jaw was treated with Orthotropics and subsequently became captain of his rowing team. Orthodontic treatment can not achieve results like this.

made me LOL. DS2 had orthodontics, & he can't row at all, so it's clearly true

Thank you OP - I had never heard of orthotropics before but one of my kids will probably need it one day and I would be keen for them to avoid the agony of braces and tooth extractions which I had to go through.

We are about to start something like this for ds1. He is 6.10yo and has tongue tie which has caused a high palate and a narrow top jaw.

We will get the tongue tie revised and the palate expanded which will hopefully do away with the need for extractions (like dh had) when he is older. I am also hoping for the side effects of the lower palate to include better nose breathing and unblocking his ears too.

He also tongue thrusts, so will need exercises to correct his swallow.

The dentist who will do it for us is also trained as an osteopath and he will be able to release the tensions caused by the tongue tie and align ds's body overall.

Mawbroon,

I would probably know the dentist. The guys working with osteopaths interest me greatly, but the treatment is not the same as orthotropics. However it sounds like something needs to be done urgently, so best of luck,

primigravida,

Remember not to wait too long 7 is the best time to start treatment, because orthodontics usually starts at 10-12 most people think that early is 9 but that is just getting too late for us.

Best wishes,

Mike