Dental News - New theory of malocclusion presented at US ortho meeting

Javier M. de Pison, DT Latin America

Tue. 29 December 2009

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CORAL SPRINGS, FL, USA: Leading authorities on the role of myofunctional forces for correcting malocclusion, such as the Australian expert Dr Chris Farrell and Germán Ramírez-Yáñez from the University of Manitoba (Canada), held a two-day conference here attended by about 50 orthodontists. Dr Farrell, founder of Myofuncional Research Company, lectured on topics such as ‘The 3 R's of traditional orthodontics: Relapse, Root Resorption. permanent Retention,’ and presented a new theory of malocclusion.

According to Dr Farrell, the main problem in orthodontics is dental stability or, more precisely, the lack of it. Orthodontists have studied for decades dental alignment, for which they have always used fixed devices such as braces and brackets, which are cumbersome and require wearing them for long periods of time. Event after this, relapses are common, as shown by many clinical studies.

On the other hand, Dr Farrell said, it has been shown that muscles are the main structure of the body, including the mouth, and that facial and masticatory muscles are what define the structure of the maxillary.

Dr Farrell explained that myofunctional therapy treats muscle and functional problems, as well as the position of the tongue, and thus improves tooth position. The Australian expert said his clinical cases presented here show that a good alignment can be achieved without brackets, with MRC devices such as Myobrace or T4K, the interceptive series called i-2 and i-3, and the new Bent Wire System.

The science underlying myofunctional forces was the topic discussed by Germán. Ramírez-Yáñez, Assistant Professor of Preventive Dentistry at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada). Dr Ramírez-Yáñez has written a new book called ‘Early Treatment of Malocclusion: Prevention and Interception in Primary Dentition,’ which deals extensively on the subject.

"Improving muscle activity in the mouth we also improve the position of the jaw, as confirmed by important studies, and stimulate the transverse development of the jaw and the maxillary, and dental alignment", said Dr Ramírez-Yáñez.

Early treatment clinics
Dr Farrell introduced his vision for the early treatment of malocclusion: the Myofuntional Clinics. The concept of these clinics is based on an office management system that includes patient education. The clinic modules presented by Dr Farrell here showed an addition to the dental office space of about 900 feet, which is used to educate parents and children on myofunctional techniques. This colorful office space is a relaxed environment designed specifically to make children feel comfortable.

One advantage is that these clinics are managed by dental assistants and supervised by dentists. Since myofunctional techniques are designed for early treatment of malocclusion in children 6-11 years old and even younger, it's an interesting and effective way to increase the number of orthodontic patients.

The dental assistant management system ensures that dentists can see a large number of other patients without being disturbed by the increase in the number of children and parents who go through the myofunctional education modules.

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