Dr. Fred Schudy: Growing Interest in "Evidence Based" Orthodontics

There is much being said about "evidence based" information in Orthodontics, of recent date. Of course all important information must be based on reliable evidence.

The most reliable evidence of which I am aware starts at birth or before, and continues until adulthood and beyond. In the early months of life, growth unfolds so rapidly that we must study this stage intensely if we desire to have "evidence based" information.

In our studies we have included the early growth of the skull, changes of foramen magnum, the early posterior migration of the condyles and the bending of the gonion angle.

We have discussed the discovery of the importance of the vertical facial growth and its relation to treatment. We have discussed the importance of relating vertical growth to horizontal growth, and the importance of this relationship to treatment.

We have reported that molars do not intrude from normal muscle force. We have reported that the saddle angle has very little effect on the forward advancement of the chin, and that the vertical relation of molars (upper and lower), not the saddle angle, determines the facial angle.

We have discussed the fact that the posterior condylar growth moves the chin forward the exact amount that it grows, millimeter for millimeter. We have discussed the fact that the professions needs some discussion to determine the consensus concerning the best method of superimposing. We have discussed many other important topics which will not be discussed here.

Whether or not we realize it, our profession is based on millimeters; yet we seldom see the word increment in our literature. We cannot intelligently discuss the growth of the jaws without studying the relationship of increments. That is why it has taken forty years to inform 5% of our membership about how the jaws grow. That is why we are turning out doctors who know very little about how the jaws grow.

Our entire career has been about evidence based information, although more of a basic nature than that discussed by the authors of the article under discussion. We do not have to understand the whys to be a good Orthodontist; but the whys are a part of an orthodontic education.

There Is a Growing Interest in "Evidence Based" Orthodontics

There Is a Growing Interest in
"Evidence Based" Orthodontics