Pediatric dentists are trained to treat children’s teeth and gums. Their clinics are designed with kids in mind, with scaled-down furniture and engaging activities like games and books.
Advanced Light Wire Functional Orthodontic Treatment is an alternative to traditional orthodontic appliances. ALF Los Angeles, CA, uses lightly progressive forces to enhance jaw and facial development, release cranial strains, and improve function.
Aesthetics
The tongue must have sufficient space to develop an ideal swallow, adequate nasal breathing, and balanced cranial function. When it is not given the room it needs, your child will likely eat less, swallow more, and develop crowded and crooked teeth.
This is why we have developed a simple and effective intra-oral appliance called the Advanced Lightwire Functional (ALF). The ALF can be custom-fitted to the dental arches, providing a continuous light force that gently expands the maxilla and skull bones. Orthodontic treatment and clinical research have shown that light forces have a more beneficial effect than heavy constant force on the teeth and jaws.
Unlike traditional metal braces, which align your smile by manipulating your teeth, the ALF works similarly to cranial osteopathy practices. This gentle method of palatal expansion can address underlying causes of crooked teeth and imbalanced facial aesthetics, such as an underdeveloped or malpositioned maxilla. It can also help with problems like a restricted airway.
Health
Pediatric dentists can treat children from birth up to the age of 18. This includes children with special needs who are too young for a general dentist and those with primary teeth that need to be cared for as they fall out and are replaced by adult or permanent teeth.
The ALF appliance is a non-traditional orthodontic treatment that expands the jaw anteriorly and laterally to support proper development and improve function. It is based on principles of cranial osteopathy and uses gentle structural support and proprioceptive stimulation that bio-modulates the autonomic nervous system.
Children with ALF experience a greater level of emotional stability. This is especially important because traumatic experiences at the dentist can negatively influence dental therapy throughout adulthood. Taking kids to the dentist when they are young will help ensure they have positive dental experiences. These experiences will also help them develop a positive attitude about dental hygiene, which is crucial for good oral health.
Functionality
ALF is an alternative to traditional metal braces that align the facial bones and jaw through cranial osteopathy. This unique appliance is a palatal expander that uses natural functional forces—the tongue and chewing—to stimulate bone growth. This increases the space in the upper and lower jaws, which is essential for the healthy development of the face, and minimizes crooked teeth and a restricted airway that can lead to TMJ problems, snoring, and sleep apnea.
ALF addresses the underlying causes of crooked teeth and the resulting symptoms, including chronic headaches, neck/shoulder pains, fatigue, digestive issues, TMJ disorder, ear ringing, and sensory processing/nervous system dysfunction. In many cases, it helps to avoid the need for extraction of permanent teeth and can even reduce snoring and sleep apnea.
Behavioral Changes
Unlike traditional orthodontic appliances that only correct teeth alignment, this non-invasive approach addresses the root cause of crooked teeth: poor posture, cranial stressors, low tongue posture, and restricted airway. By improving jaw and bite balance and promoting palatal expansion, this holistic treatment method can reduce the need for permanent teeth extractions and minimize the risk of TMJ problems, clenching and grinding, and sleep apnea.
The study utilized an experimental randomized crossover design where 44 children (22 typical kids and 22 with ASD) were exposed to the sensory adapted dental environment (SADE) or a regular dental environment (RDE) in counterbalanced order, three to four months apart. The results indicated decreased physiological anxiety, behavioral distress, and pain perception in the SADE condition compared to RDE.
In addition, the use of the SADE environment reduced the time needed for professional cleaning. It reduced the need for pharmacological methods (including general anesthesia) to maintain children’s cooperation during the dental visit. These findings are significant because they may increase general dentists’ willingness to treat children with ASD and make dental treatment safer for these children.
