Functional orthodontics​

Functional orthodontic treatment is used for insufficient or excessive growth of one or both jaws and, without fail, for growing patients (approximate age for girls 11-14, for boys 12-15). But, in exceptional cases (especially if the problem is related to the lower jaw), we turn to premature treatment.

Functional devices can be divided into out-of-mouth (which are themselves outside the mouth but apply pressure to the dentition or jaw), in-mouth (which are located inside the mouth and from there apply pressure to the dentition or jaw and thus become invisible from the side), as well as removable and non-removable. I'll probably start with the out-of-mouth devices.

Every professional should see their work as a whole, and in our case, these are our patients, mostly people who are still growing and forming as a person and part of society. We should not focus only on the teeth, jaws or smiles. What we should see in each patient is the person as a whole.

For example, I can't offer a 13-year-old girl in the midst of puberty, to wear for 18 hours a day a device that will be visible from the outside. In the worst case, we, correcting her smile, will spoil her whole school, and, possibly, her future life (do not forget that sometimes children are merciless), psychology, relationship with the environment and family, career, etc. And in the best case, she simply will not put on the device, the family will lose money and time, and we will lose our reputation.

Considering all these nuances, I, in my practice, try to avoid using extra-oral devices, trying to replace them with other, intra-oral devices.

As for removable and non-removable devices, I think that everything is clear. Fixed devices relieve the result of treatment from the patient's cooperation and make the prognosis more satisfactory. As well as non-removable devices take up little space in the mouth and do not affect the patient's comfort.