Usually when a motorcar is making a strange noise, it will inevitably break when it is under the most strain. For example up a steep hill in the middle of the night or in the centre of town in the middle of a traffic jam. It is the same with our body. It usually fails us when we are overworked, undernourished and stressed to the max. True healthcare is healthcare that stops people getting sick. Unfortunately most people think “if I have no pain, I must be healthy”. In fact because our body has systems which prevent us from feeling pain until the problem has become severe, it is only when compensation fails that we actually begin to notice the pain. This is usually when we seek treatment. The pain is treated and we are left to fend for ourselves until the next compensation fails. True healthcare is finding the compensation before it fails, treating it and allowing us to become truly healthy.

Growth Orhtodontics offers the most complete approach to patient evaluation and treatment ever compiled into one system. It goes beyond treating the patient’s “complaints” or symptoms and is a system for helping any patient reach their individual desired level of “HEALTH”.

More than 90% of the patients that I see have an overclosed bite. This is where the lower jaw closes too far into or behind the upper jaw and their teeth may not even be crooked. Health is not a democracy and the fact that so many people have this problem does not make it normal. When the muscles of the jaw are over shortened, pain results. These muscles are connected to the head and that is one of the most common causes of headaches.

The lower jaw is a hinge that is called the TMJ (tempero mandibular joint). This can be felt just in front of the ear. It consists of a ball and socket with a cartilage disc that sits on top of the ball. This disc acts as a shock absorber as well as a bearing that the ball works on. If the jaw is over closed as mentioned earlier the ball tends to fall off the back of this little disc. When this happens a patient will often have cracking, popping or clicking sounds that come from the joint. Untreated, it may lead to limited opening of the jaw and damage to the disc and bones of the joint. The jaw should open about 55 mm without any sounds or deviation to the left or right. Pain is only felt late in the process of the joint breaking down.

We swallow 2400 times a day. Every time we swallow our teeth come together.

This is what re-aligns our cranial bones. These are the bones that make up the bones of our head. More than 300 studies have shown that these bones are mobile and if we want to function correctly it is important that these bones are free to move. It is very important that the teeth meet correctly to allow the TMJ and the cranial bones to function in a healthy state.

Our brain functions best if it is housed in a symmetrical cavity. Nerves do not function well if they have any pressure on them. If we do not have a balanced bite (2400 times a day) these unbalanced forces are transferred through the mobile cranial bones causing distortions. This is not good for the brain or the TMJ.

Even minor treatment may have some effect on the whole person, physically, mentally and even spiritually. It is an awesome responsibility to have the power to change someone else's life. We take this responsibility seriously. Dentistry should not be considered to be the treatment of teeth alone. Simply put, the teeth are part of the jaws. The jaws are part of the head. The head is part of the body. They all function harmoniously with one another in health and when one part of our body is out of balance it affects the other parts. This can result in pain occurring in a completely different part of the body from the actual site of the problem.

Our aim is to diagnose and formulate a treatment plan which will restore balance and harmony to the system. We have been taught that the teeth have a profound effect on the cranial bones. If we do not pay attention to this we may set up an unbalanced situation that could be detrimental to your health. Did you know that the movement of the cranial bones has a large part to play as regards to the secretion of the hormones from the pituitary gland?

Why do we see so many deformed jaws and incorrect bites?

In 1948 Dr Francis Pottinger showed that diet had a profound effect on the development of the jaw. He took 1000 cats and fed half of them unprocessed food. The other half were fed cooked and processed food. Those that were fed natural food had perfectly formed jaws and those that were fed processed food had jaw deformities. Dr Western Price also showed that a modern diet of processed food, refined sugar and flour caused a lack of development of the facial bones in humans. Is this why we see so many overclosed, undershot and crowded jaws?

It is our goal to get the teeth and jaws back to their correct position and keep them in this position. This will ensure correct cranial function and in turn correct posture. Now you can clearly understand why we do not want to remove any teeth if at all possible. Although this may make things look right, it is very much a man made compromise for a very complicated biological system gone wrong. This is why we try to restore the shape of the teeth and replace the missing teeth and realign the jaws.

We have learnt how to use sophisticated orthodontic appliances to correct the shape and position of our patient’s jaws. We then align the teeth using braces or crowns to make them fit correctly every time we swallow (2400 times a day!)

Earlier on, I spoke about posture. In a healthy body the bite (or how our teeth come together when we swallow) should be at right angles to the axis of gravity and parallel to the other parts of the body. There is a strong correlation between the upper jaw, the lower jaw, the bite and overall body posture. If the body parts of the skeleton are level with each other and the horizon, the skeleton is in balance. When the body is out of balance it will become stressed, weakened and eventually breakdown and become sick.

One of the body’s main functions is to breathe. If the upper jaw is too small the nasal passage is reduced in size as well. If the lower jaw is too far back the flow of air is also inhibited. To overcome this the body compensates and the head is postured forward. (We are taught this principle in CPR) The rest of the body has to accommodate this compensated forward head posture or else we will fall over. This is what gives many children their slouch. It is not because they are lazy but merely because they are fighting for air. Their shoulders will be hunched forward, their spine will be bent and the pelvis will be pushed forward. This will eventually lead to lower back problems, pain between the shoulder blades and headaches or neck pain.

But wait, there’s more….
Remember this posture thing? We are designed to walk on soft surfaces. Because we don't (and very few of us wear the correct footwear) I have been shown how many of our patients have foot problems. If your foot does not strike the ground correctly, or should you have an ankle roll when standing, a compensation of the pelvis, spine, and shoulder occurs. The head has to then tilt to keep our balance or else gravity wins! This has an adverse effect on the bite and the cranial bones and you know what happens next. Try tilting your head over to one side and relax your jaw completely. Now slowly bring your teeth together. Notice how you only bite on the downward side?

How many people have you heard of who have one leg shorter than the other? This is usually due to the pelvis tilting and is a compensation the body has made to avoid discomfort in another area of the body. It is very rarely the leg itself that is shorter.

To find out exactly what is going wrong in this complicated biological marvel of ours and to develop the correct treatment plan, it is essential that we use whatever means possible to correctly diagnose the condition. An educated guess will not devise the best treatment plan. A good plan ensures a better result that is usually easier, quicker and more economical. My flying instructor gave me some good advice. He said “a good landing is always preceded by a good approach”. I feel the same about good dentistry. Also good pre-flight checks are very important before take-off - the reasons are obvious. That is why we do extensive diagnostic procedures before we decide on treatment.

Once we have gathered all the necessary information we are then able to sit down with the patient and if necessary the parents to discuss our findings. Only at this stage can we give you some idea of what is going on, the best way to treat the problem and give you a healthier body that won’t rely on compensations to function.

So, as you can see, teeth aren’t just for chewing and looking good!

Vernon Kruger BDS

UNDERSTANDING “HEALTH” AND “HEALTH CARE”

In today’s world, Health and Healthcare are confusing terms. This process covers 3 different types of care. Really, the Healthcare system should be redefined to include three separate levels of care. Then, all the present models of “Healthcare” can be understood and appreciated. These proposed levels of care;

I. CRISIS CARE - DEALS WITH EMERGENCY SITUATIONS AND IS BASED ON
PREVENTING LOSS OF LIFE. USUALLY HANDLED IN HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENTS
WITH EXTREME MEASURES REQUIRED.

II. SYMPTOM CARE – DEALS WITH ELIMINATING THE PRESENTING SYMPTOMS AND
MAKING THE PERSON “FEEL” BETTER. CAN BE HANDLED VERY WELL WITH
DRUGS, HERBS OR MANIPULATIONS, BUT OFTEN ALLOWS THE REAL CAUSE TO
GO UNDETECTED UNTIL IT BECOMES A CRISIS!

III. HEALTH CARE – DEALS WITH ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THE SYSTEM FUNCTION AT
ITS OPTIMAL LEVEL. USUALLY THIS IS ASYMPTOMATIC CARE AND THE DOCTOR
NEEDS TO USE OTHER OBJECTIVE MEASURES TO DETERMINE STATUS AND
RESULTS. (Lab tests, posture, etc.)

Healthcare is often mistakenly called “preventative” or maintenance care, but it really shouldn’t be called maintenance until optimal health has been achieved. For some people this is a difficult task, but it is a goal. In Growth Orthodontics, we think of “Health Care” as working with the individuals system from death (or near death), past symptoms and on to Health. Maintenance care is really the elimination of symptoms and then holding the individual there! True “Healthcare” is so much more!

/…CRISIS CARE…/ /……….SYMPTOM CARE……/ /………HEALTHCARE…………/

There is a big difference between not sick and “not healthy” states, but both are without symptoms.

The larger the difference between sickness and health, the larger the persons “Adaptive Capacity”. This is what we want to increase as much as possible. Some people have very small adaptive capacities and need more care to get symptom free. This can be genetic, traumatic or environmentally driven. The further towards a state of health a person can achieve, the less likely they are to get sick or hurt. True health care is a continual process of seeking optimum function and homeostatis.