| By :
Nick Messe
Orthodontists are not just concerned with straightening people's teeth. In today's world orthodontics is concerned with enhancing the self-confidence and attractiveness of the patient. In other words, the job of the orthodontist today goes beyond simply straightening teeth. For cutting edge, forward thinking orthodontists their role is to help people have beautiful smiles, and to help instil the self confidence that comes with a pleasing appearance. That mission includes all members of the family from seven years old to seventy and beyond. One of the problems most often detracting from having a self-confident, attractive smile is when the jaws do not align properly from back to front. These are called Class II problems. The way the upper and lower jaws come together when biting is abnormal. The upper teeth are usually located in front of the lower. This is more than an appearance issue. It also has an obvious bearing on how well the teeth do their job. Patients with this type of problem will almost always have a convex facial profile as well as a recessed chin. Just about always in these cases the upper back molars are forward of the lower back molars. The bottom jaw looks recessed, with the upper jaw protruding out over the lower. One advanced method of dealing with such a condition is to have a Herbst Appliance positioned correctly on both upper and lower teeth. A Herbst appliance stimulates growth of the lower jaw by gently but persistently pressuring and slowly moving it forward. This technique consists of crowns mounted on certain upper and lower molars. The crowns have small bands or rods attached to each. The rods slide together connecting the upper and lower parts of the appliance. The connection between your jaws applies pressure to move your lower jaw towards the front. Once installed and properly adjusted the appliance lets you move your jaws up and down and move your lower jaw forward, but not back. As you learn to adjust to this new alignment your jaw muscles and joints gradually become used to this adjusted position. As the jaws become accustomed to the new relationship the shape of the face changes and the new configuration between upper and lower jaw becomes much more comfortable. The chin is pushed slightly forward, the molars take on a more customary relationship to each other, and the front upper teeth do not protrude as they did before treatment. As a result the patient ends up with a more pleasing appearance as well as a more efficient set of teeth.
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