Dr Vernon Kruger - Growth Orthodontics

For a great healthy smile contact us at Growth Orthodontics and Jaw Joint Clinic.

I am a dentist that has focused my practice on aligning teeth and jaws. I am very concerned about the amount of teeth some children lose when they undergo orthodontic treatment. Research has shown that this can damage the face, reduce the airways, narrow the smile and damage the jaw joints. This has an onflow effect causing a poor posture and bad health. There is a huge shift throughout the world where dentists are now straightening teeth very successfully without tooth loss.

I have a simple philosophy:

• Fix the problem-don't hide it
• Grow the jaws and allow the teeth to go where nature intended them to be
• Less tooth extraction
• Create beautiful faces without a dished-in profile
• Wide attractive smiles
• Healthy jaw joints
• Nose breathing and wide open airways is important
• Correct tooth position, correct jaw position, correct head posture, correct body posture - Healthy patient.

What is Non-Extraction Orthodontics?

Non-Extraction Orthodontics is the straightening of a person's teeth without extraction or removal of any permanent teeth. It is an alternative method of treatment that allows a patient to retain all of his or her teeth while having the teeth straightened.

Many times, teeth appear too large for a person's jaw. Research shows that it is not the teeth that are too large; rather it is the jaw that is too small for the teeth. This often results in crowded, or "buck" teeth - something that occurs in too many children.

Non-Extraction Orthodontics corrects these crowded conditions by developing the jaw to accommodate all permanent teeth, thereby eliminating the need for extractions.

Since 1985 Dr Vernon Kruger has been utilizing growth orthodontic principles to develop or to expand the jaw in adults and children, creating sufficient space for straight teeth to grow.

Attractive Smiles When jaws are developed enough to accommodate all of the permanent teeth, a person's smile is enhanced. It becomes wider and more noticeable, often far more flattering to a person's face. Many of our patients tell us they feel their smile has now become their best feature!

Excellent Retention Development or expansion of the jawbones is generally considered permanent, as is the growth of any bone. Of course, retainers must be worn regularly, and habits which cause improper dental and jaw development must be eliminated for optimum results.

Four Teeth Can Be Saved Traditionally, the four bicuspid teeth are removed before the remaining teeth are straightened. ( Often refered to as 4 small teeth but never the less still permanent teeth) In Non-Extraction Orthodontics, these teeth are not removed. Not only is space developed to accommodate the four bicuspids, but often, growth is sufficient in post-molar areas to let the wisdom teeth erupt easily!

What about posture?

Most people think that teeth are for chewing and as long as they look good and dont hurt, theyll be ok. More than twenty years of getting teeth to chew and look good has allowed me to study many people. One of the things that struck me was how many patients have noisy jaw joints, bad posture, backaches, headaches and more and more are suffering from tiredness, lack of energy and vitality and some have even been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. More and more people are getting affected by every bug that they encounter. Just look at how many antibiotics are being prescribed. Our immune system is suffering. How many children have behavioural problems and are chemically controlled with drugs like Ritalin? If you look closely, we are becoming more and more reliant on pharmaceutical companies to live a 'normal' life.

Usually when a motorcar is making a strange noise, it will inevitably break when it is under the most strain. For example up a steep hill in the middle of the night or in the centre of town in the middle of a traffic jam. It is the same with our body. It usually fails us when we are overworked, undernourished and stressed to the max. True healthcare is healthcare that stops people getting sick. Unfortunately most people think "if I have no pain, I must be healthy". In fact because our body has systems which prevent us from feeling pain until the problem has become severe, it is only when compensation fails that we actually begin to notice the pain. This is usually when we seek treatment. The pain is treated and we are left to fend for ourselves until the next compensation fails. True healthcare is finding the compensation before it fails, treating it and allowing us to become truly healthy.

Postural Orhtodontics offers the most complete approach to patient evaluation and treatment ever compiled into one system. It goes beyond treating the patients 'complaints' or symptoms and is a system for helping any patient reach their individual desired level of HEALTH.

More than 90% of the patients that I see have an overclosed bite. This is where the lower jaw closes too far into or behind the upper jaw and their teeth may not even be crooked. Health is not a democracy and the fact that so many people have this problem does not make it normal. When the muscles of the jaw are over shortened, pain results. These muscles are connected to the head and that is one of the most common causes of headaches.

It is our goal to get the teeth and jaws back to their correct position and keep them in this position. This will ensure correct cranial function with good airways and in turn correct posture. Now you can clearly understand why we do not want to remove any teeth if at all possible. Although this may make things look right, it is very much a man made compromise for a very complicated biological system gone wrong. This is why we try to restore the shape of the teeth and replace the missing teeth and realign the jaws.

We have learnt how to use sophisticated orthodontic appliances to correct the shape and position of our patients jaws. We then align the teeth using braces or crowns to make them fit correctly every time we swallow (2400 times a day!)

See our website: www.growthorthodontics.com for 'before' and 'after' pictures that may amaze you.

About Dr Vernon Kruger

Dr Vernon Kruger is now a Senior Instructor for the International Association for Orthodontics, one of the largest orthodontic associations in the world, having graduated in April 2006 from the Instructors Institute at the International Association for Orthodontics in the USA. This is a great honour as this is by invitation only. Dr Kruger thanks Dr Derek Mahoney, the renowned Sydney orthodontist, for nominating him. So now he teaches dentists how to help their patients get the healthy smile they deserve.

Dr. Vernon Kruger is a 1981 Graduate of The Witwatersrand University in South Africa. He passed with distinction and was a top student in the department of operative dentistry.

His training includes: cranio facial orthopaedics, orthodontics, upper quarter pain treatment, and jaw joint disorders. Full details of continuing professional development available at our website: www.growthorthodontics.com

Please remember - I am a dentist who does growth orthodontics 100% - I am not a specialist orthodontist.