In this episode, I interview Dr. Dan Grob.  Dan has been a practicing orthodontist for 40 years, has been actively involved in academia throughout his career, has published numerous articles, and is the past Editorial Director of OrthoTown magazine.  Dan recently discovered the numerous and amazing benefits of providing more early orthodontic treatment and it has transformed how he approaches patient care.  We discuss:

• What it was like purchasing Charlie Tweed’s brother’s practice in AZ.
• Why Dan didn’t do much early treatment in his first 25 years of practice, and how that changed approximately 15 years ago.
• How self-ligating appliances have helped improve his clinical efficiency.
• The importance of starting the patient evaluation by looking at the patient’s face and finishing with the teeth.
• How being airway-aware can both change lives and grow your practice.
• The void in our formal orthodontic education system when it comes to early treatment and airway.
• The reasons why pediatric and general dentists seem to be more cognizant of the benefits of early treatment, especially as it pertains to airway.
• The state of affairs in higher dental education regarding the disconnect between pediatric and orthodontic departments, and what we can do about it.
• How doing more Phase I treatment to address the transverse early has simplified Dan’s practice and given him more control over his cases.
• Why spending a bit more time to treat over two phases is well worthwhile based upon the superior results you can attain.
• Whether dental crowding is due to large teeth or small jaws.
• The different techniques that Dan and I use to expand the mandibular arch.
• How full braces and wires during Phase I can generate amazing expansion and arch development.
• Dan’s thoughts on lingual frenectomy.
• The best way to decrease the number of impacted canines you have to manage.
• The importance of determining the etiology of the transverse deficiency in younger kiddos.
• What can be done to shift the paradigm of orthodontic treatment towards one that focuses on the value and importance of early treatment.

LINKS:

• DOC CE Courses on Phase I Treatment: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/