Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic

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Most people in industrial societies today do not recognize the facial distortion that is common, the spreading of sleep apnea, the extent of children wearing braces, or other symptoms of an epidemic in oral-facial health that can be traced to how most people eat and hold their mouths at rest. Ehrlich hopes that increased attention and research geared toward the jaws epidemic can turn the tide. A bold and provocative title. The subject matter deserves that, and much, much more. What is the subject? I found myself wondering time and again. Reading Jaws, I couldn’t stop thinking the brief lessons I once had on Hatha yoga. In Hatha yoga breath-control exercises, known as pranayamas, can help quiet the mind and reduce anxiety and stress. Nasal breathing is an extremely important part of the Hatha yoga. During this process, you slow down and control your breath. You inhale and exhale through your nose.

Dr. Kahn is a graduate of the University of Mexico and the University of the Pacific. She has 25 years of clinical experience in orthodontics and is part of craniofacial anomalies teams at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. She also is the coauthor of Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic. She can be reached at forwardontics.com.J. I. Silverberg and P. Greenland. 2015. Eczema and cardiovascular risk factors in 2 US adult population studies. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 135: 721–728. e726. People have some power to protect their children from this serious and cryptic environmental problem. Jaws lays out both causes and cures." Author: Gretchen C. Daily, Bing Professor of Environmental Science Source: Stanford University This epidemic has important consequences for heart health. I'm delighted Jaws is bringing it home to both citizens and health care professionals." Dentists should encourage “forwardontics,” a program focused on keeping the airway open, through sets of exercises designed to correct jaw “posture.” We have learned that how one’s jaws and tongue are held when not eating or talking is key to healthy jaw development. A. Qureshi, R. D. Ballard, and H. S. Nelson. 2003. Obstructive sleep apnea. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 112: 643–651 A. Sheiham. 2005. Oral health, general health and quality of life. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 83: 644–644; A. Sheiham and R. G. Watt. 2000. The common risk factor approach: A rational basis for promoting oral health. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology 28: 399–406; R. G. Watt and A. Sheiham. 2012. Integrating the common risk factor approach into a social determinants framework. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology 40: 289–296; and Matthew Walker. 2017. Sleep the good sleep: The role of sleep in causing Alzheimer’s disease is undeniable; here’s how you can protect yourself. New Scientist October 14–20: 30–33.

A new study says that parents and caregivers can take steps to promote proper mouth, jawbone and facial musculature development in children to help stave off future health burdens and chronic conditions. (Image credit: Getty Images) I think the best evidence comes from human ancestors. Richard Klein, Stanford paleontologist and the world’s expert on the human fossil record, said to me, “I’ve never seen a hunter-gatherer skull with crooked teeth.” The stakes aren’t as high as with something like climate disruption, which could lead to billions of premature deaths. But Jaws describes an epidemic that is causing a lot of expense – think braces – and misery. Many people’s lives could be improved if it were dealt with. It’s also a public health problem where some of the power to avoid it rests in your own hands. Kirsi Pirilä-Parkkinen, Pertti Pirttiniemi, Peter Nieminen, Heikki Löppönen, Uolevi Tolonen, Ritva Uotila, and Jan Huggare. 1999. Cervical headgear therapy as a factor in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Pediatric Dentistry 21: 39–45.Y. Chida, M. Hamer, J. Wardle, and A. Steptoe. 2008. Do stress-related psychosocial factors contribute to cancer incidence and survival? Nature Clinical Practice Oncology 5: 466–475. The clinical evidence largely generated by Simon Wong, BDSc, indicates that using minimally invasive Forwardontics appliances to train children to keep their mouths shut, accompanied by a carefully designed postural exercise regime such as Good Oral Posture Exercises (GOPex), can return children to the trajectory of normal orofacial development. It also could increase the probability that they will live long, healthy, and happy lives. When mothers can nurse, many cannot do it for long enough, or they may pump their breast milk and have a caregiver deliver it through a bottle. They recognize this is excellent for the child’s nutrition, but nursing directly from the breast exercises the jaw muscles. Having milk poured into their mouths from a bottle, not so much. At the public level, a determined and well-supported educational program will be necessary. At the personal level, healthy jaw development will require careful and long-term cooperation of children (and parents) who have not benefited from jaw-friendly rearing, all under the supervision of dentists familiar with forwardontics. We can prevent this problem, argue Kahn and Ehrlich. Parents should encourage their children to wean to tough foods that require chewing, like humans did in the days of hunter-gatherers. Also to keep their mouths closed when they’re not eating or talking. Proper oral posture with the lips closed, the tongue on the palate and the teeth lightly touching

Keeping all the things in mind, the authors do state that much of these theories and relations that are mentioned are not proven scientifically and it's their theory that they are leaning on. Much of it might be true, much of it might be not but It helps you to be cautious of yourself, your oral health and possible consequences if you are not conscious about it. In the end, for parents of young kids, no need to panic, as the authors themselves convey in the book, Image 7. Improvement of the airway in a boy after orthotropic and postural treatment. This is the impact mentioned in image 6.This manuscript looks beyond the flashy smile that so many of us pay our orthodontists for and asks the hard question: Why is it we are almost all born with the faces of angels, yet so few maintain that face value of our innate and inborn beauty? The answer revealed is intriguing, thought provoking and a much needed call to action to fight for the fullest physical potential for all our children. A must read!" Author: Simon Wong, BDSc. Source: London School of Facial Orthotropics Paul Ehrlich is the world's best-known and most distinguished ecologist, and one of the best known figures in any field of science. Now, teaming up with Sandra Kahn, he offers us his most personal and practical book to date. You'll discover the widespread consequences of how you carry out such seemingly mundane, automatic, and repetitive acts as breathing, smiling, and sleeping—and how your ways of doing those things affect peoples' perceptions of you. Read, enjoy, learn, and prepare to be astonished!" Dr. Kahn is a graduate of the University of Mexico and the University of the Pacific. She has 25 years of clinical experience in orthodontics and is part of craniofacial anomalies teams at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. She can be reached at forwardontics.com.