Any treatment which may positively enhance the jaw growth pattern of your child and possibly eliminate the need for more radical surgical treatment later is to be welcomed. A new technique developed by Prof De Clerck of Belgium and North Carolina University allows us to advance the growth of the midface thus enhancing the bite, profile and smile of some young patients with a relatively large lower jaw.

This treatment allows the orthodontist to use bone  borne orthopaedic forces between the upper and lower jaws to influence preferential growth patterns to positively enhance the facial profile without having any negative effects on the teeth. The treatment time window is limited to children approximately 11 years old. Titanium plates  are placed in both jaws usually under general anaesthetic and elastics bands are worn 24 hours per day   for a period of 12 months  or more.

Successful results may obviate the need for surgical treatment later in adulthood