|
The focus of the 2006 Moyers Symposium was early orthodontic therapy, i.e., treatment provided to a patient during the mixed dentition and occasionally during the late deciduous dentition. The presumed goal of such treatment is to correct existing or developing skeletal, dentoalveolar and muscular imbalances in order to improve the environment before the eruption of the permanent dentition is complete. Proponents of early treatment maintain that by initiating orthodontic and orthopedic therapy at this young age, the need for complex orthodontic treatment involving permanent tooth extraction or orthognathic surgery is minimized. Is this statement accurate? In an era of evidence-based orthodontics, what clinical studies support or refute these claims? In recent years, early orthodontic and orthopedic treatment has become increasingly controversial, not only among orthodontists, but also with the lay public. Articles on this subject have appeared in such prominent lay publications as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and US News and World Report. Is two-phase treatment any better than treatment in one phase? Is it better to manage Class II and Class III patients in the early mixed dentition or later after the deciduous teeth are lost? Are there any markers that can be used to determine the “best time” for treating specific types of malocclusion? What scientific evidence supports these claims? These and other such questions were address during the 33rd annual Moyers Symposium.
|
