Functional Orthopedics

Dentofacial orthopedics involves the guidance of facial growthand development, which occurs largely during childhood. Sometimes orthopedic treatment may precede conventional braces, but often the two are accomplished at the same time.

So if your child gets braces and a functional appliance, he's undergoing orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics!

Functional appliances are used to correctly align the jawsbut are not necessary for all of our patients. They are used in about 30% of our cases - and that's only in those patients with an 'overshot' or 'undershot' jaw.They require between 6 – 12 months to permanently change the alignment of the jaws.