My “favourite” daughter, Noor! ❤️ treated with @myline.aligners at @happykidsdental
“Being the orthodontist, technician, and parent for this case gave me unique insights that I’ve learned more from than many years of practice.” by Dr Eslam
My takeaways from this:
• Balancing Preference & Patient Needs:
As orthodontists, we all have preferences for treatment techniques (eg brackets vs. aligners, non-extraction, distalization). It’s fair to recommend what we’re most experienced with, as this often leads to better outcomes.
I think the ultimate win is when you can match your preference with the patient and parent’s wishes.
• Compliance & Reality: As in one my favourite books, “Atomic Habits”. For a habit to stick, it needs to be easy and practical. We all know the official recommendation for aligners is 22 hours of wear, in reality, this is rarely met. It’s okay for kids to have a few hours’ break now and then especially in social events, dinners, playdates, or holidays.
I used to find my daughters aligners everywhere at home except in her mouth! Being realistic and understanding is a key.
• RME vs. Aligners:
o Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) can be initially inconvenient, and kids might have a hard time, but its non-compliance factor and skeletal expansion possibilities are huge wins.
o Clear Aligners offer a clean and gentle way to straighten teeth, but they demand significant compliance from both patients and parents
• The Power of Combination: Combining different approaches with the patient’s condition in mind often gives the best outcome. In Noor’s case, it was Rapid Maxillary Expansion + clear aligners. This has now become my favorite combination for growing patients with narrow arches!
• In Oral Hygiene – Empathy is Essential: We need to be strict but also empathetic and understanding about oral hygiene. Even I struggle to keep my own daughter’s teeth clean throughout treatment and keep her away from sweets, what
The whole process well worth it, her smile got prettier & I became orthodontically wiser.
