At what ages do the key stages of facial growth occur?

[pekay]

i wish didnt even know about this.

making the proper diagnosis is really f**king difficult though

very hard (for the surgeon) to determine if the abnormal growth is going to affect your jaw(s) exclusively or your entire face

no need to beat yourself up

[CK]

making the proper diagnosis is really f**king difficult though

very hard to determine if the abnormal growth is going to affect your jaw(s) exclusively or your entire face

no need to beat yourself up

i would have loved to know this when i was young and intervention was possible. but at our stage, treatment plan wont change regardless of our origin of growth.

if abnormal growth is diagnosed the best time for surgery (i was told) is 6/7, well before the on-set of puberty. this rarely happens unless you born with half your jaw or something nuts.

after that surgery can conflict with normal development and can be a huge headache for doctors. it's just easier and cheaper to wait it out and perform surgery when the growing is done.

i think the technology and knowledge exists to successfully manage surgery during growth periods, i just dont think there is a huge incentive among doctors.

[dantheman]

Threads like this make me angry.  I have been told a number of different things by orthodontists regarding this, the inconsistency tells me that either they don't know what the f**k they are talking about or some are lying. 

I remain convinced that orthodontic work had a negative impact on my facial growth.   I know I have seen a lot of people complaining/worrying about that and (to be honest) only a few that looks like it had a real noticeable impact, but in my case looking at before/after pictures makes it pretty clear.

I sometimes have the same feeling, though it relates to NOT getting treatment (palatal expansion, etc.). At the end of the day it's difficult to know what caused what. For example, i have a retruded lower jaw, dark circles under my eyes, yet have minimal crowding of my teeth. Are my sinus problems and nighttime mouth breathing the cause of my circles and retruded jaw? Or was I born with crappy jaws  to begin with that predisposed me to sinusitis and trouble breathing leading to dark circles. It's hard to know the cause and effect relationships in many cases. I despise my profile view and also wonder if my nasal issues were taken care of earlier if there was a chance for more optimal growth development...

[Lazlo]

This guy looks like a fat Tony Stark, but I like what he does. Frankly, I so wish I could have had this done, I think totally would have improved my face. To answer the question has to be done between 7-10 years of age. I mean the device really does an amazing job expanding the jaws, I could have kept all my teeth had a nice wide palate and mandible. I still hope there will be genetic engineering of some sort in the next 10 years to solve the problems caused by extractions....

Before & After - Expanding the Upper and Lower jaws in a 7-10 year old

[CK]

This guy looks like a fat Tony Stark, but I like what he does. Frankly, I so wish I could have had this done, I think totally would have improved my face. To answer the question has to be done between 7-10 years of age. I mean the device really does an amazing job expanding the jaws, I could have kept all my teeth had a nice wide palate and mandible. I still hope there will be genetic engineering of some sort in the next 10 years to solve the problems caused by extractions....

Before & After - Expanding the Upper and Lower jaws in a 7-10 year old

so many better treatments could have been done when i was 7-10. ugh.

[pekay]

so many better treatments could have been done when i was 7-10. ugh.

D.O. yo!

[Lazlo]

D.O. yo!

are you still seriously considering/researching D.O? It's not as simple as it sounds. Palate expansion (i.e. SARPE) is in fact DO, and for the lower arch you can have DO mandibular widening. But I think the f**king expanders have to remain in your month for I've heard anywhere from 4-6 months during which time you'll need to be in braces. I don't even know what this means if you've had extractions already. Again, I'm just figuring 10 years, maybe they can just gentically engineer new teeth and then I'll just have a full set of pearly whites put in. Does that make sense. Is there any kind of psychology of future projections!? I bet in the 1980s they thought baldness would be cured by 2000. The difference is, genetic engineering of rudimentary sorts is in fact a reality and back then it wasn't.

[pekay]

are you still seriously considering/researching D.O? It's not as simple as it sounds.

no, no... I meant as a preventive treatment for children with chaotic/abnormal growth

according to the paper that I linked earlier the "key bones" that define your face are set in stone (females, age:15) and (males, age: 17-18) so obliviously the sooner one acts the better and since D.O is much less invasive than traditional jaw surgery it won't be long until it's a mainstream treatment

[CK]

no, no... I meant as a preventive treatment for children with chaotic/abnormal growth

according to the paper that I linked earlier the "key bones" that define your face are set in stone (females, age:15) and (males, age: 17-18) so obliviously the sooner one acts the better and since D.O is much less invasive than traditional jaw surgery it won't be long until it's a mainstream treatment

i would have taken any treatment when i was younger. so much could have been preserved. some things orthodontists do borders on crime. dont know how they sleep.

[stupidjaws]

Ck you sound ridiculous. Get it together bro

[CK]

Ck you sound ridiculous. Get it together bro

u mad bro

[pekay]

Ck you sound ridiculous. Get it together bro

this s**t is deep and serious yo!

don't be hatin

[stupidjaws]

lol i think it's useless to dream about "what if a super enlightened orthodontist came to save me when i was 4"

[CK]

lol i think it's useless to dream about "what if a super enlightened orthodontist came to save me when i was 4"

i dont think it is a matter of enlightenment. a lot of bad medicine continues to be practiced and people are left with life-long deformities.

[Kristen]

i dont think it is a matter of enlightenment. a lot of bad medicine continues to be practiced and people are left with life-long deformities.

Unfortunately that is so very true!!!
I would like to start laws or something to change that.