The 5 point prevention plan

Summary

The video script discusses a Five Point Prevention Plan for crooked teeth, aimed at children aged four to six. It emphasizes the importance of environmental factors over genetics in causing malocclusion. The plan includes standing straight, eating with a closed mouth, chewing gum, using lip tape at night, and maintaining good records of dental development. The speaker, an orthodontist, argues for a return to ancestral practices to prevent dental issues and calls for a focus on prevention rather than treatment, urging viewers to support his campaign for research into these methods.

Takeaways

• 🦷 The Five Point Prevention Plan is recommended for children aged four to six to prevent crooked teeth.
• 👶 Point 0.1: Encourage children to stand up straight and keep their mouth closed to promote good posture and facial development.
• 🍽️ Point 0.2: Eating with the mouth closed is advised to improve myofunctional therapy and reduce sleep apnea risks.
• 🍬 Point 0.3: Chewing gum regularly helps strengthen the jaw muscles and can prevent crooked teeth.
• 🌙 Point 0.4: Using lip tape at night can be beneficial, but it's important to consult with a doctor first, especially if there are breathing issues.
• 📸 Point 0.5: Keeping good records of a child's dental development through photographs can help track changes and effectiveness of preventive measures.
• 🧬 There's a strong environmental and lifestyle component to crooked teeth, more so than genetic factors.
• 🦴 Modern diets, which are softer than ancestral diets, may contribute to the weakening of jaw muscles and facial structure changes.
• 🌱 The speaker believes that orthodontics should focus more on understanding and preventing the causes of crooked teeth rather than just treating the symptoms.
• 🌟 The speaker is advocating for a shift in orthodontic practices towards prevention and is seeking support for research and debate within the profession.

Q & A

What is the Five Point Prevention Plan mentioned in the script?

The Five Point Prevention Plan is a set of recommendations for preventing crooked teeth in children. It includes: 1) Standing up straight and keeping the mouth closed, 2) Eating with the mouth closed, 3) Chewing gum, 4) Using lip tape at night, and 5) Taking good records of dental and facial development.

Why is it suggested not to start the prevention plan younger than four years old?

The prevention plan is not recommended for children younger than four due to concerns about potential choking hazards.

What is the environmental component referred to in the script that contributes to crooked teeth?

The environmental component refers to lifestyle factors that are believed to play a significant role in the development of crooked teeth, more so than genetic factors.

Why were our ancestors' teeth straight according to the script?

The script suggests that our ancestors had straight teeth because they lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle with a tough diet, which is different from the modern diet that is softer and less demanding on the jaw muscles.

What is the significance of the 'foundation stone' mentioned in the script?

The 'foundation stone' refers to the normative data that forms the basis of understanding dental development. The speaker is concerned that if this foundational data is incorrect, it will lead to a misunderstanding of the causes of malocclusion.

How does the script suggest standing up straight and shutting the mouth can help prevent crooked teeth?

By maintaining good posture and keeping the mouth closed, the facial muscles are engaged, which can help prevent the face from falling down, thus preserving space for the teeth, tongue, and airway.

What is the rationale behind the recommendation to eat with the mouth closed?

Eating with the mouth closed is believed to help develop good myofunctional habits, which can reduce the risk of sleep apnea and contribute to better dental alignment.

Why is chewing gum recommended in the prevention plan?

Chewing gum is suggested to strengthen the jaw muscles and replicate the toughness of an ancestral diet, which is thought to be beneficial for maintaining facial structure and preventing crooked teeth.

What precautions are advised before using lip tape at night?

Before using lip tape, it's advised to consult with a doctor, especially if there are existing breathing issues due to allergies, nasal polyps, or other reasons.

Why is it important to take good records according to the script?

Taking good records of a child's dental and facial development is important for tracking growth and changes over time, which can help in understanding and addressing dental issues.

What is the speaker's ultimate goal with the prevention plan?

The speaker's ultimate goal is to prevent not just crooked teeth, but also potentially other related health issues like sleep apnea, by promoting a better understanding and research into the causes of dental and facial development problems.

Outlines

00:00

🦷 The Environmental Impact on Crooked Teeth

The speaker introduces the Five Point Prevention Plan aimed at preventing crooked teeth in children aged four to six. The plan emphasizes the importance of environmental factors over genetic predispositions in the development of malocclusion. The speaker contrasts the straight teeth of our ancestors and other primates with the modern prevalence of crooked teeth, suggesting that lifestyle changes, particularly diet and posture, are responsible. The first point of the plan encourages standing up straight and keeping the mouth closed to promote proper facial development and avoid nasal obstructions that can lead to poor posture and facial structure issues.

05:00

🌱 Developing Healthy Habits for Lifelong Oral Health

The second paragraph discusses the importance of instilling good habits in children at a young age, such as eating with the mouth closed, which can reduce the risk of sleep apnea and promote better oral health. The speaker refutes the idea of eating with an open mouth and instead advocates for the benefits of closed-mouth eating. Additionally, the paragraph highlights the role of chewing gum as a means to strengthen facial muscles and counteract the softening effects of modern diets on jaw development. The speaker also advises on the use of lip tape at night, with a cautionary note to consult with a healthcare professional if there are breathing issues, and the importance of keeping records of a child's dental development.

10:02

📸 Documenting Growth and Advocating for Prevention

In the final paragraph, the speaker stresses the significance of documenting a child's facial and dental growth through photography to track progress and changes over time. The speaker also calls for support for a campaign to prevent crooked teeth, encouraging donations and participation. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for the orthodontic community to engage in research and debate about the causes of crooked teeth and to focus on preventive measures. The speaker expresses a desire for more scientific research to validate and develop preventive techniques, potentially leading to broader health benefits beyond just dental health.

Keywords

💡Five Point Prevention Plan

The Five Point Prevention Plan is a set of guidelines proposed in the video to prevent crooked teeth in children. It includes standing up straight with mouth closed, eating with mouth closed, chewing gum, using lip tape at night, and taking good records of dental development. The plan is aimed at addressing the environmental factors contributing to malocclusion, rather than just treating the symptoms. The video emphasizes the importance of early intervention and lifestyle changes to prevent dental problems.

💡Malocclusion

Malocclusion refers to a misalignment of teeth, which can lead to crooked teeth and other dental issues. In the video, it is discussed as a condition that has become more prevalent due to modern lifestyle changes, contrasting with the straight teeth commonly found in our ancestors and other primates. The video suggests that malocclusion is not just a genetic issue but is largely influenced by environmental factors such as diet and oral habits.

💡Evolution

The concept of evolution is mentioned in the context of how human teeth and facial structures have changed over time. The video points out that until recently in our evolutionary history, humans had straight teeth and broad dental arches. It suggests that modern lifestyle and dietary changes have led to a higher incidence of malocclusion, indicating a significant environmental influence on dental development.

💡Nasal Breathing

Nasal breathing is emphasized in the video as a healthy habit that can contribute to proper facial development and prevent issues like crooked teeth. The speaker suggests that mouth breathing, often a result of poor posture or nasal obstruction, can lead to facial structures falling down, reducing space for teeth and potentially causing malocclusion. Encouraging nasal breathing is part of the prevention plan to maintain proper oral and facial development.

💡Myofunctional Therapy

Myofunctional therapy is briefly mentioned as a concept that has been shown to reduce sleep apnea in children. In the context of the video, it relates to the broader theme of oral habits and their impact on dental and overall health. The therapy involves exercises and habits that strengthen the muscles of the mouth and face, which can help in maintaining proper oral posture and preventing dental issues.

💡Lip Tape

Lip tape is one of the components of the Five Point Prevention Plan. It is used at night to encourage the lips to stay closed, promoting nasal breathing and preventing mouth breathing, which can contribute to facial changes that lead to malocclusion. The video advises starting with daytime use to get accustomed to it and consulting a doctor if there are concerns about nasal breathing.

💡Dental Records

Taking good dental records is the final point in the prevention plan. It involves keeping track of a child's dental development through photographs and measurements. This practice is crucial for monitoring changes and progress over time, allowing for early intervention if necessary. The video stresses the importance of documentation in understanding and addressing dental issues effectively.

💡Environmental Influence

The environmental influence on dental health is a central theme of the video. It challenges the notion that crooked teeth are primarily a genetic issue, arguing that lifestyle factors like diet and oral habits play a significant role. The video suggests that modern diets, which are softer and less challenging for the jaw muscles, contribute to changes in facial structure and the prevalence of malocclusion.

💡Prevention

Prevention is a key message throughout the video, advocating for early intervention and lifestyle changes to avoid dental problems like crooked teeth. The speaker emphasizes that understanding and addressing the environmental factors contributing to malocclusion is more effective and important than simply treating the symptoms once they appear.

💡Orthodontics

Orthodontics is the dental specialty focused on correcting teeth and jaw misalignments. The video's speaker, an orthodontist, expresses concern that the field may not fully acknowledge the environmental factors contributing to malocclusion. The speaker calls for more research and debate within the profession to better understand and prevent dental issues.

Highlights

Introduces the Five Point prevention plan for crooked teeth.

Recommends starting the prevention plan between the ages of four to six.

Concerns about choking hazards for children younger than four.

Discusses the environmental component contributing to malocclusion.

Historical perspective on straight teeth in our ancestors.

Comparison with other primates and indigenous peoples with straight teeth.

Hypothesis on modern lifestyle affecting facial structure and leading to malocclusion.

Correlation between lifestyle changes and the rise of sleep apnea and other head-related problems.

Critique of the orthodontic profession's approach to crooked teeth.

Emphasis on the importance of prevention in orthodontics.

Advice on standing up straight and closing the mouth to improve posture and facial structure.

Suggestion to eat with the mouth closed to promote better facial muscle development.

Recommendation to chew gum to strengthen jaw muscles and prevent crooked teeth.

Advocacy for lip taping at night to encourage proper mouth closure and breathing.

Importance of maintaining good records of dental and facial development.

Call to action to support the campaign to prevent crooked teeth.

Description of the orthodontic treatment approach using functional appliances.

Challenge to the orthodontic community to debate and research the causes of crooked teeth.

Vision for future research to prevent not just crooked teeth but related health issues.

Transcripts

foreign

[Music]

crooked teeth

this is the Five Point prevention plan

0.1 stand up straight and shut your

mouth

point two eat with your mouth closed 0.3

chew gum

0.4 lip tape at night and 0.5 Take Good

Records I'm recommending this is

entailed somewhere between the ages of

four to six I don't go younger than four

because I just worry about kids choking

and things like that but that's be on

yourself if you want to go younger than

the age of four

now I could ask why we're doing this

well we're doing this because

despite

popular public opinion and the

orthodontic opinion

there's a strong environmental component

you know the way we live is our

lifestyle is

responsible to a lot for a larger extent

than we imagined to why keep a crooked

the geology of malocclusion we call it

officially

now throughout

Evolution until relatively recently we

had perfectly straight teeth you know I

couldn't tell you our ancestors had

sleep apnea I couldn't tell you if they

had ADHD and these other problems or

type 2 diabetes we think less certainly

but we don't know that because our

ancestors well they're all dead

but we know where their teeth were or in

fact teeth still are because we've got

skulls so it is clear and obvious that

there was far less malacus if there was

in fact you go back down the gatherer

times it seems that there was no male

occlusion teeth were perfectly straight

any big broad arches

and there's no other look at all the

other primates we're the only primate

that's got this problem and there's a

lot of different primates and their

teeth fit together absolutely perfectly

as long as they are wild and they are

healthy

then of course we've got lots of other

more indigenous peoples alive today you

know think of that guy walking off for

African Serengeti

or the Brazilian Outback or the

um Amazon rainforest awesome Inuits and

you know people the more traditional and

um harmonious your lifestyle seems to be

the straight of your teeth are you know

these guys have got great facial

architecture they tend to have a big

broad smile with all 32 teeth you know

including the wisdom teeth not one or

two but seems to be everyone you know

like my fingers fit on my hands and it

seems that since we've gone from this

hunter-gatherer era into this modern

industrialized era the faces have

changed shape and that's affecting the

internal structure as well and I I

believe leading to malocclusion and we

see this epidemic of a lot of problems

like sleep apnea

and maybe all of these problems related

to the Head are related to each other

and this change and My worry is that my

specialty and you know I'm an

orthodontist I qualify from ahus which

was considered to be the top university

for growth and development and

Orthodontics at the time

is well that we might they that my

specialty May pay lip service to the

fact that there is a strong

environmental you know a lifestyle

influence on crooked teeth but we're

treating it as if it's genetic and I

think one of the big problems is is the

foundation Stones this yellow line I

draw here that's when we took our

normative data and if you've got the

foundation stone that's in the wrong

place you're going to struggle to make

sense of things and that's my big

problem and if you go to link one at the

in the description underneath you'll see

the efforts I've been trying to go to to

gain debate on why teeth are crooked

within my profession and I'm just asking

the simplest question is we don't

understand the cause of the problem that

we don't really understand the problem

and of course we're we're not looking at

prevention and prevention prevention is

always the ultimate answer and that's

what I Aspire towards gaining in people

you know that's what this video is about

okay so the first point

stand up straight and shut your mouth

this isn't in your idea I'm saying if

you've got weak muscles and from

previous nasal obstruction you've

developed a habit of hanging your mouth

open so you've got poor body posture

you're not nose breathing you know you

risk your face falling down and that's

what I'm worried is happening as the

face falls down the cross-sectional area

reduces and there's less space for teeth

the tongue and the airway and that's my

concern so stand up straight and shut

your mouth try and gain that ingrained

in your kids because something that you

can encourage them to do now could

become a habit of a lifetime you know

get it when they're young make habits

now that last a lifetime

then point two

eat with your mouth closed okay so

here's an article from the Sun newspaper

it was a Shutterstock image and that's

link number two at the bottom

and they're suggesting eating with your

mouth open I I don't agree with that I

think half of myofunctional therapy a

concept that has been shown to reduce

sleep apnea in children by 62 percent I

think the low-lying fruit is simply eat

with a mouth shut if you can get

children to eat with their mouth shut I

think that's a major Milestone it's not

complex it's intuitive it's a relatively

simple thing but you have to enforce

that you have to sit opposite them and

remind them you know the old

old-fashioned way was sitting with a

wooden spoon and poking them but eat

with your mouse shop this is not rocket

science this is not complex and get that

habit in Young

then true income

I get my kids to chew from when they

come home from school until they go to

bed

you want to prevent crooked teeth these

tougher gums can be really useful I

don't worry for what's in them I've just

used them and I've found them very

effective and the kids chew I've found a

little bit expensive so I get the kids

to take the chewing gum out before the

their evening meal and put them back

again after their evening meal but

they're basically told or me and my wife

are encouraging them to chew gum all the

time they're not in school to you know

build the muscles up this is the single

most important factor that seems to come

out of the research is this change from

a really tough ancestral diet to a

really soft modern diet so what's the

answer

replicate the toughness of chewing you

know build the muscles up I've got a

tough jaw I've got I've got a strong jaw

I've got big chewing muscles maybe those

are related oh you know use it or lose

it okay point four lip tape at night

it's worthwhile doing this during the

day time a little bit first to get a

child used to it and from the Sleep

Foundation website they say if you have

difficulty breathing through your nose

due to allergies nasal polyps or other

reasons you should avoid mouth taping

that's link number three in the

description below

so

I I'm not an expert on I'm breathing and

I'm not a respiratory doctor and I think

it'd be very wise to follow check with

your doctor before doing anything like

this I do it with my children and if you

can do it I think it's a really good

idea but check with your doctor first

the next Point 0.5

Take Good Records if you don't know

where you've come from

you don't know where you're going

and this is really really important so

what I use is this is an image from my

clinic we have a telephoto lens with a

200 millimeter lens I take it at nearly

four meters it's best to use artificial

lighting against a

um neutral background because if you use

artificial lighting it's always going to

be the same if you're going to use

daylight it's amazing how daylight

changes and you don't notice it because

our eyes are adjusting all the time but

if you have a photograph that you can

overlay I'll add that down as an extra

link medical facial overlay it shows you

how you can overlay photographs to to

chart how your child's growth is

occurring

um then finally please support our

campaign prevent crooked teeth you can

go and sign the campaign

um I'd love

um some donations if possible that's

going to be link number four at the

bottom the type of treatment I do is buy

a block all the traffics you know I I

believe we're gaining the best

improvements in facial form Ever

achieved by any Clinic anywhere on the

planet with the possible exception of

Simon in Melbourne I don't know I would

I'd love to compete compare with someone

you know take my challenge up I'm

but the bottom line is it's

simple

it's cheap

it's doable and I believe it's safe you

know as long as you're checking and

you're following this advice here so why

not do it I don't have clinical control

trials as I said I've really tried to

get my profession to debate why teeth

are crooked that six year letter writing

campaign just to try and try and get

that debate you know to get the my

professional body to debate why to

repeat the debate of 1937 I think it was

the last time they debated this so a

president's been set I'd love to do that

again I'd love you to sign this campaign

let's get some science behind it my big

mission is to get the spotlight of

modern medical research to shine on this

area you know the technique I do buy a

book called the tropics you know it's

really interesting it's got great

promise but you know you need teams of

researchers to prove and develop these

ideas and better

to prevent

to prevent this possibly not just

prevent crooked teeth maybe you're going

to prevent sleep apnea maybe you're

going to prevent a whole host of other

problems like George problems forward

head postures

we don't know but give it a go

[Music]