Dan Mannikko, DDS | Reno/Tahoe’s Neuromuscular, TMJ, and Cosmetic Dentist.
Biobloc Orthotropics is very different from what we regard as traditional orthodontic treatment. Dr. Mannikko’s training in this field was an obvious step as he grew in his understanding of the complex neuromuscular dental system. In the course of treating hundreds of patients, Dr. Mannikko commonly saw individuals with dysfunction in their facial muscles and temperomandibular joints.
When we see a balanced face, it is a face that looks good in all dimensions. Lips are full and unstrained when sealed, the chin is not too far forward or back, the airway is not compromised, and the chin-to-forehead ratio is in correct proportion. Observing children, one does not have to look far to find one that has a lips apart (poor oral posture), better known as mouthbreathing. This is an obvious sign of an obstructed nasal passage. As the mouth drops open to breathe, the tongue’s normal position is altered from the roof of the mouth to a lower position often between, over or below the lower teeth. With this loss of support to the upper jaw, it begins to alter its direction of growth. Instead of growing in a forward/downward direction, it falls in a backward and downward direction, allowing the front teeth to move farther away from the nose, which sometimes creates a gummier smile and a longer face. The lower jaw that hinges by the ear rotates down and back as well, giving the appearance of a retruded jaw and longer face. Connected to the lower jaw, the tongue is forced into the airway, causing a narrowing of the airway and sometimes snoring and sleep-disordered breathing.
For this chain of events, there is no other treatment in dentistry that can alter the direction of facial growth better than Biobloc Orthotropics. The first step is to optimize a child’s facial growth by ensuring that his or her upper and lower jaws are more ideally placed within the face. The second step is to correct the poor oral posture that caused the unfavorable facial growth to begin with.
