Members of the International Association of Facial Growth Guidance (Orthotropics®) believe that malocclusion is due to incorrect growth of the jaws and cannot be cured by mechanics and surgery alone.
Teeth become crooked if the jaws grow incorrectly. The most common causes are simple things like thumb sucking or hanging the mouth open. Bad growth of the jaws will also spoil the face but all this can be avoided if the jaws can be encouraged to grow correctly from a young age.
Scientists have known this for ages (see other pages for the evidence) but most orthodontists are currently taught that it is too difficult to alter the growth of the jaws and prefer the more reliable option of fixed braces or ‘train tracks’, usually accompanied with extractions and sometimes jaw surgery. This form of traditional treatment has been used for about 100 years and orthodontists are fully aware that it can damage the teeth and face and also that the crowding tends to return later. Despite this train tracks and extractions are still widely used all over the world because that is how they were trained.
The provision of orthodontics in most countries is controlled by the Dental Councils or Boards, which are largely made up of dentists and orthodontists. The British General Dental Council is fully aware that orthodontists are not providing fully informed consent but have recently pronounced that “Failing to inform a patient of alternative treatments which, in the dentist’s opinion would not be appropriate, would not constitute a failure to obtain fully informed consent”. This allows orthodontists to withhold information about any treatment they don’t want the patients to hear about. We know of no other medical or dental specialist group that are exonerated from informing patients about methods just because they do not believe them. More detailed information is available on other pages
