Live. Laugh. Smile.
I was looking for an orthodontist to cover my maternity leave not too long ago. I was having a hard time at first but found someone who was recently retired. While interviewing this person over the phone, I mentioned that I generally treated underbites using with facemark therapy.
He was astounded when I said the word Facemask!
“Faskemask?” he said with sarcasm. “Now that’s a practice builder!”
Obviously, this orthodontist, despite his 20 years of experience was not on the same page as I was.
Yes, giving a young kid a Facemark to wear sucks. Yes, it’s visible. Its literally stuck on your face and everyone notices it. Yes its hard to wear. Yes, it can sometimes cause irritation of the skin on the chin! In this day and age, there are already so many reasons why children get bullied, why not give them one reason to make your child’s life difficult.
But the truth is that Facemask therapy, when worn as prescribed actually works! I run my practice not based on getting more patients or “building my practice” but because I want to do what is best for my patients. This includes using Facemark therapy for patients that present with an underbite.
It works because it takes advantage of a patient’s natural growth potential to move the maxilla (upper jaw) forward. In the case of an underbite (when the lower jaw is more forward than the upper jaw), you actually want to “grow” the upper jaw forward.
The facemask does just this and creates a dramatic change in the patient’s profile, improves the function of their teeth and jaws and minimizes the chances of complicated treatment in the future including extraction of permanent teeth or surgery.
As a parent, what would you want for your child? An orthodontist to tell you what treatment works best and minimizes complications or prescribe treatment that won’t “hurt your feelings?”
Want to know more about Facemask Therapy? Read all about it in our Early Treatment Section!
