A Better Way
Dr. Alleman is a general dentist who has had training in both conventional orthodontics and in functional jaw orthopedics. We believe that early diagnosis and guidance of growth and development can prevent or simplify treatment traditionally started later on.
After years of study and observation, Dr. Alleman has seen the benefits of early orthopedic guidance of facial growth allowing unobstructed and free development of strong, beautiful, and healthy faces.
Dr. Alleman has noticed that faces and smiles treated later on (after the permanent teeth are in), and primarily with braces, seemed to be harder to treat and had to wear braces for longer times. This was especially so when the teeth were crowded.
The traditional orthodontic treatment for crowded teeth has been to extract premolar teeth and then to retract the front teeth back into the extraction spaces. This is not only hard to do, but results in finished cases that relapse easily, and leave the patient with a "dished in" look due to the accentuated prominence of the nose and chin, as the teeth, lips and cheeks are retracted to fill in the premolar extraction sites.
Patients treated this way tend to look older than they should, and since the resulting bite is stress containing, many suffer complications with headaches and facial pain.
Dr. Alleman noticed that the traditional orthodontics he was trained with seemed to straighten the teeth but failed to improve the face!
Think about this Dr. Alleman doesn¥t want you or your family members to look old or to have headaches or relapse. There had to be a better way. And there is!
Treat the full face, not just the teeth...and start early. Functional Jaw orthopedics recognizes that early evaluation and guidance of the face and jaw development is usually easier to treat and results in the patient having to wear braces for shorter times if at all.
Functional Jaw Orthopedics encourages early detection and correction of airway and breathing problems in the infant. Then uses simple oral functional appliances to expand the patient¥s jaws and to improve airway and errant lip and tongue habits as needed. Once started, the patients seem to blossom outward to develop full and youthful faces. Since the expansion is forward and not retracted, they can breathe easier and have less bite strain with fewer headaches and complications. Often, that's all there is to it and the patient doesn¥t need the traditional braces or extractions. If necessary however, back teeth are extracted instead of premolars, and braces are only worn for a short time to align the teeth and finish the case.
Functional Jaw Orthopedics: a combination of multidisciplinary early orthopedic care, guidance of growth and development through the primary and mixed dentition and finishing with "braces" in the early adult dentition, is the better way for beautiful, lasting smiles.
