Orthodontia, Retainer, Jaw Growth

Adnada

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Dec 12, 2013
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I am interested in your thoughts on orthodontia, tooth shifting, and jaw expansion. Weston A Price noticed wider jaws and healthier teeth in groups of people on a traditional diet (generally including grass fed dairy, organ meats). Ray Peat experienced his wisdom teeth shifting and aligning themselves after taking DHEA. So some skeletal changes may occur with improved nutrition and endocrine function.

I had braces as a young teen, and have been wearing a retainer for the past 16 years. Might it be wise to stop wearing the retainer, as it might be confining my teeth if they are indeed trying to shift into a better position? There is a lingering fear of developing buck teeth...
 

arien

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Aug 4, 2013
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Robert Becker's discussion of the piezoelectric mediation of bone development in The Body Electric suggests that upward pressure from the lower jaw ought to have marked effect on jaw and facial development. This guy seems to think something similar, though I haven't looked too far into his claims: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPp06x9BtEw

Interestingly, hatha yoga devotes significant attention to jaw and tongue posture (have a look at the jalandhara bandha as used in the shoulderstand or plough pose, or for something a little esoteric, the kechari mudra). Iyengar's directions on the shoulderstand and plough claim that these postures ought to massage/stimulate the thyroid and parathyroid. In light of Ray's statements about pressure and stretching stimulating the synthesis of ATP and the differentiation of stem cells, I find this intriguing.

I think the phenomenon of 'melting faces' relates to the deterioration of posture in western cultures and the way the various antimetabolic factors interfere with water structure. i.e. raising its structural temperature, melting its liquid gel phase.
 

pboy

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Jan 22, 2013
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I was destroyed by denstisand orth as a kid...had 4-6 adult teeth pulled, all kinds of plastic coats and braces and rubber bands and hooks pulling my jaw this way or the other. Later when I grew up and realized...I couldn't go back, I wish I hadn't had any of it done

it is 100% nutrition and hormone based. After changing my diet, better mindset, and especially since drinking a lot of whole milk peat inspired my teeth have become I don't know if more aligned but it seems that way, more white, less sensitive, and I think even to some extent feel bigger (the back ones). Id stop wearing it asap and focus on making it heal the right way, from the inside out...orthos do major damage, like untold damage...teeth are extremely sensitive, connected to the brain and organs...the fact they pull them and drill them and fill them is literally messing with peoples entire nervous system. I can only imagine what it would be like to not have had any of it, but the good thing is its pretty much a non factor anymore
 

Jib

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Mar 20, 2013
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591
Dr. John Mew

http://orthotropics.com/

Dr. Brian Palmer

http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/

So much information on those sites. I highly recommend looking into those -- I also wish they were more popular and shared publicly and were the standard references for oral posture and health. Groundbreaking stuff.

I was considering getting a Homeoblock. I still might. The Homeoblock is designed to expand the palate and bring the maxilla forward, although I've heard that not every practitioner uses it this way. I'd have to set up a consultation with someone near me and find out more.

I also had braces growing up. I also had all 4 wisdom teeth removed years ago and you can see it in pictures of myself before and a while after: my eyes are closer together now, my jaw became narrower and less prominent. There is no question that the wisdom tooth removal did this.

If proper oral posture was taught to children and people understood the importance of breastfeeding on proper oral posture and cranial development...all these problems could be avoided.

Circumcision, amalgam fillings, wisdom tooth extractions, traditional orthodontics with braces and retainers...I've been through all of that and honest to god, if these things alone were changed, I think people's general health and quality of life would be *SO MUCH* better.

Add in squat toilets so we could maintain our natural mobility that we're born with into old age, and we'd all be one step closer to paradise ;) I'm serious.

I can't help bringing that other stuff up because it's all on the same spectrum to me. Traditional orthodontics is IMO obsolete in light of orthotropics, similar to how there is absolutely no need for circumcision or amalgam fillings, and if proper oral posture and swallowing was the norm, everyone would have enough room in their mouths to fit all their wisdom teeth without any crowding or impaction, which would also have a favorable effect on facial attractiveness and more open airways.

*NOTE

Proper oral posture = lips gently closed, tongue against the roof of the mouth, with the tip just behind or very lightly touching the front teeth. Swallowing properly is flattening the tongue against the palate so it exerts pressure on the outside teeth -- the tip of the tongue should have zero forward movement. Brian Palmer wrote about this and has said that any tongue thrusting at all with swallowing is incorrect.

Buteyko Meets Dr. Mew is an interesting book that gets into all this a little more. George Caitlin also wrote a book back in the 19th century called "Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life." He noticed native mothers would close their baby's mouths if they dropped open while they slept. I don't think tape had been invented yet at the time he wrote this book so he recommended just using willpower to keep your mouth shut and just focus on keeping your mouth shut as you fall asleep.

I've used Nexcare durable cloth medical tape for months to keep my mouth shut at night. Kind of freaked me out at first but then it just became normal. Practitioners of the Buteyko method seem to be pretty fond of that practice. I like the durable cloth medical tape because it's gentle enough that I don't have to use any kind of vaseline or anything. Just tack it on and then pull it off when I wake up in the morning.

Over the past couple years I've actually noticed some favorable changes in my facial structure from practicing proper oral posture. My face isn't as "long" and I think I look more attractive than I did. Sounds crazy but if our facial structure can degenerate in old age, it would be reasonable to assume it could improve as we age given that we practice the right things.
 

SQu

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Jan 3, 2014
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1,308
I can believe it, Jib. Adnada, my younger daughter has rather crowded teeth and I've been waiting it out. I can understand that having put so much into straight teeth when younger, it's harder to take out that retainer than to put it in in the first place. So my position is easier than yours. And it's especially challenging when having taken that leap, things might be tougher for a while. Are other signs positive? Like the state of your teeth, sensitivity etc.?
 

LucyL

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Oct 21, 2013
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sueq said:
I can believe it, Jib. Adnada, my younger daughter has rather crowded teeth and I've been waiting it out. I can understand that having put so much into straight teeth when younger, it's harder to take out that retainer than to put it in in the first place. So my position is easier than yours. And it's especially challenging when having taken that leap, things might be tougher for a while. Are other signs positive? Like the state of your teeth, sensitivity etc.?

My daughter had very crowded baby teeth, a very high palate and greatly enlarged adenoids and tonsils. By the time she was a seven year old, the adenoids and tonsils had been removed and she had an appliance to widen her upper jaw. I sometimes wonder, in hindsight, if we had not waited to do the adenoid/tonsil surgery, but had proceeded with that when she was 2 or 3, if we could have avoided the orthotropic intervention. As it was, catching the growth spurt at 6-8 was critical to making the treatment more successful, and in the long run, easier on her.

I went through orthodontics when I was young, and now I'm settling into a certain amount of buck-toothedness in middle age, but I'll be durned if I'm going back for more orthodontia. :silent:
 
OP
Adnada

Adnada

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Dec 12, 2013
Messages
104
Thanks, all! I am very interested in facial changes through yoga/facial exercises and postures. How much change can occur in an adult? I guess we will find out!

Is orthotropics used much on adults? And is it just a better approach to orthodontia, perhaps less ideal than achieving results via exercises, etc? It is intriguing and looks like it can give fabulous results, but is there much harm done by forcing such a change?

I feel fortunate that I have had less damage done to my mouth than many... tonsil/adenoidectomy at 14, 2 years of braces without extractions at 15 years, wisdom teeth removed at 20 years. I have yet to have a filling (I am 31), though I do know I have some cavities currently. They seem to improve and possibly halt when I eat daily liver and get good rest/low stress. Unsure of what I will do if cavities grow to the root canal point. I might forgo a root canal for an extraction, but that opens up the question of tooth shifting again.
 
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