TOOLS OF THE ORTHODONTIST'S TRADE

(Madison) Capital Times

(c) 1996 Wisconsin St. Jrnl. All rts. reserv.

06680006 TOOLS OF THE ORTHODONTIST'S TRADE WISCONSIN 
STATE JOURNAL (WJ) - SUNDAY June 28, 1992 By: William R. Wineke 
Wisconsin State Journal Edition: ALL  Section: Look  Page: 1D Word 
Count: 620

TEXT: There  was  a  time  when  the  term  ''orthodontics'' conjured images 
of a teen-age kid wearing shiny braces and hating them.

    Today,  that kid is more likely to be pre-teen, his braces might be any 
color  of  the  rainbow and he may be wearing little plastic inserts in his 
cheeks,  a  headbrace that looks like a catcher's mitt and neck straps that 
look like torture - but which aren't too uncomfortable.

   This  world  of  pediatric  dentistry  uses  not  only  X-rays  but also 
computers  to  trace  ''ideal''  jaw  lines to instruct dentists on how and 
where to put dentistry ''appliances.''

    Almost  every aspect of the new dentistry is controversial - but, then, 
orthodontics  always have been controversial (ask any parent who has had 
to shell out thousands of dollars for braces the kid doesn't want to wear).

    Drs.  Douglas  Wilson  and  Steven Peterson of Madison Pediatric 
Dental Associates  are  two  of the city's leading proponents of early 
orthodontic treatment for children.

    They  argue  that treating the underbites, overbites and other assorted 
''bites''  at  an  early  age may mean their patients will be able to avoid loss 
of teeth or even corrective surgery later.

    Besides,  they  say,  an 8-year-old is more likely to actually wear the 
braces  and  restraints  that go with orthodontics than is a teen-ager who, 
more than anything else in the world, doesn't want to look ''different.''

    Regardless  of  when treatment begins, however, orthodontists have 
some very  exotic  things  to  put in the mouths of our kids these days and 
they look for all the world like something one might see in the Tower of 
London.

    There's  a  palatal  expander  that,  according to a publication of the 
American  Orthodontic  Society,  ''gently separates the bony sutures in the 
roof of your mouth to widen your upper jaw.''
    That sounds really strange, but Peterson notes that ''if your teeth are 
crowding,  there's  really only two ways to treat them. You either make the 
mouth arch bigger, or you extract some teeth.''

    There's  a  ''Habit Corrector,'' a little gismo you put over your front teeth  
to  ''discourage  thumb-sucking'' and which ''reminds your tongue to press  
agains  the roof of your mouth when you swallow instead of thrusting 
against your front teeth.''

    And  there's  a  ''Saggital  Appliance''  (how's that for a name?) that 
pushes against individual teeth to line them up with the other teeth.

    Then,  there's the headgear that puts pressure on the upper jaw to slow 
its growth while the lower jaw catches up. There's headgear and braces 
that pull  back  protruding  front  teeth, and there are appliances to hold 
back molars.

    A  ''Bionator''  fits on the upper jaw and forces it to bite correctly, and  a  
''Frankel'' has plastic guards that hold cheek and lip muscles away from the 
teeth.

    All of this sounds weird, but, in all likelihood, any kid could explain all of 
the above to you in layperson's English.

    The bad news in all of this, Wilson says, is that most treatments don't 
work  forever. If you really want a perfect mouth with straight teeth - and if  
you  don't  want to go through extensive facial surgery to get it - you might 
have to wear braces forever.

    ''Teeth are going to crowd eventually no matter what you do,'' he said. 
''But,  the  question is to what degree. We hope that orthodontic treatment 
will  work  to  take  what may have been a major problem and turn it into a 
relatively  minor problem.''

CAPTION: State Journal photos/CAROLYN PFLASTERER Above:  
Samantha  Leimontas, 9, wears dental retainers to hold her teeth in place. 
 In  orthodontics  today,  kids have a host of scary-looking devices 
custom-made  for  their  mouths.  Below:  Samantha  chose a 
rainbow-colored retainer because of its colors.

                Copyright (c) 1992, Madison Newspapers Inc.

DESCRIPTORS:  CHILDREN; HEALTH