The Science of Orthodontics? Dr. Kevin O’Brien’s Blog Post “A Brilliant Summary of Orthodontics and Obstructive Sleep Apnea”
I have always wondered how it was possible after the 1986 court verdict of Brimm vs Malloy determined that premolar extraction/retraction orthodontics can cause severe damage to the jaw joint[1] that the orthodontic profession could continue to extract and retract healthy teeth and claim that there is no relationship between premolar extractions and the jaw joint. I knew, of course, that the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) had commissioned a series of “high quality” articles in response to this verdict: articles which predictably provided evidence that there is no relationship between the jaw joint and teeth.[2] I knew that no medical doctors were involved in these studies, let alone TMD experts, and that all were written by orthodontists[3] who in that period had had no training in jaws or TMD issues in dental school — and still today have scanty training in the area.[4] I also knew that one of these commissioned articles is today required reading for the American board examinations of new orthodontists,[5] and that the Brimm case is taught in orthodontic schools as a case of misfired justice.[6] I had read the AJO-DO editorial that argued that orthodontics is above the law, and that no state court verdict about the consequences of extracted teeth should stop the extraction of teeth, as surely orthodontists know more than juries…