The phrase "Interceptive Orthodontics" means just what it implies. It intercepts (catches or discovers) conditions that will lead to crooked, misplaced teeth in adulthood at a very young age so that simple, inexpensive
and comfortable treatment can be used to eliminate, or at the very least, greatly reduce the severity of a future orthodntic case.
Did you know that how good looking a child will be when they are grown is dependent on how the permanent teeth come in and where they position themselves? We are not just talking about how the smile looks, This involves
their overall good looks. Full, optimal growth of the upper and lower jaw depends on the stimulus provided by the the developing teeth.
Since the baby teeth are so much smaller than the adult teeth, if there are no spaces between the baby teeth or, even worse, if they are overlapping and crowded, the permanent teeth will not have enough room to come in and will be crooked and overlapped, instead. This in turn does not provide the stimulus to proper jaw development and to the development of good looking features.
Children are usually not referred to an orthdontist until the age of eleven or twelve when it is obviousthat their adult teeth are crooked. If the problem had been caught earlier in life there would be a good chance that this would have been avoided. You may ask, why is this? Well, it's a nasty little secret that very little is taught in dental college about braces and cranial (head)
growth and development. It is almost as if the Orthodontic specialists don't want to share thier knowledge with the general dentists, jealously keeping it
as sort of a "black art" to be used only by the initiated. By age twelve it is usually too late for more bone growth and some of the permanent teeth must be extracted to make room for the other teeth so they can be moved into place by braces. This very often leads to a "dish pan" profile because the front teeth have been drawn back to take up the extra space not needed to straighten
the other teeth. The child now will never have the optimal bone growth that he or she could have had.
Interceptive Orthodontic Appliance
The appliance Dr. Massimei has used for many years with a great deal of success is worn by 5 to 8 year old children only passively at night to correct overbite, overjet, crowding and some open-bites*. It is a preformed, self opening appliance, designed for the baby dentition to allow erupting upper and lower adult front teeth to be guided in straight. The appliance then holds these teeth straight while fibers develop around them to hold the correction. The Nite-Guide® also increases the size of the jaws in the area of the front teeth to help correct crowding. The appliance is available in 11 sizes. The correct size is determined by Dr. Massimei after a careful examination of available records and then monitored over a period of about nine months.
It is indicated for:
- A potentially deep overbite where the upper baby front teeth cover the lowers vertically by 1/8" (1.5 mm) or more.
- Any severity of overjet (buck teeth), however the correction some of those over 4mm may require active daytime wear.
- Up to 4 mm of potential crowding of the permanent adult incisors.
- Correction of Class I (normal jaw relation in profile), end to end, and Class II malocclusions (where the lower jaw is smaller in relation to the upper jaw).
- Correction of some open-bites (an opening between the upper and lower jaw in front) where thumb sucking habits have been corrected and where no swallowing problems exist.
- Correction of some cross-bites in the back tooth area that are not caused by a displacement of the lower jaw.
The success of the appliance is largely dependant on the child's compliance in its proper use.
For the 8 to 12 year old child, another soft plastic device is used by Dr. Massimei. It is designed containing sockets arranged in such a way that when the patient exercises with the appliance, the teeth are moved or guided into an ideal occlusion (ideal position). The child provides these orthopedic forces by exercising or biting down into the appliance for a minute, and then relaxing for a half minute. These periods should total approximately 3 to 4 hours a day and while sleeping. Problems such as overbite, overjet and crowding or spacing are corrected by means of orthopedic forces which favorably alter jaw growth and jaw relations. As the adult teeth begin to erupt, they are guided into the sockets of the soft plastic pliable appliance. The active treatment period lasts from 4 to 10 months. When the correction has been obtained, the patient's exercise time will be reduced gradually until the appliance is worn only one night a week as a retainer.