Let’s start with a story. During the Warring States period, King Wen of Wei once asked the famous doctor Bian Magpie for advice: “The three brothers in your family are all skilled in the art of healing, who is the best healer?” Bian Magpie: “The elder brother is the best, the second brother is worse, and I am the worst of the three.” The king of Wei was puzzled and said, “Please give a more detailed description.” Bian Magpie explained, “When my elder brother cured the disease, it was before the onset of the disease, when the patient himself did not feel sick, but he gave medicine to eradicate the root of the disease, making it difficult for his medical skills to be recognized, so he was not famous and was only highly respected in our family; when my second brother cured the disease, it was at the beginning of the disease, when the symptoms were not yet very obvious and the patient did not feel pain, so my second brother was able to The medicine was able to cure the disease, so that people in the countryside think that the second brother only cure small diseases is very spiritual. When I treat a disease, it is always when the condition is very serious, the patient is in great pain, and the patient’s family is anxious. At that moment, they saw me puncture, bleed, administer medicine, or perform major surgery, so that the seriously ill were relieved or cured, so I was famous all over the world.” The king of Wei was suddenly enlightened. So is the cure, and so is the orthodontic treatment. Misalignment in China is as high as more than 90% As we all know, as the gateway to the digestive tract, neatly arranged teeth, not only has a good bite chewing function, but also conducive to dental cleaning, clear language and beautiful appearance. However, the reality is very cruel. From the data, the incidence of malocclusion in China is as high as over 90%, which means that the vast majority of children have different degrees of malocclusion. If we look at the high standard, such patients all need orthodontic treatment. The choice of orthodontic treatment depends on how much parents care about their child’s beautiful smile, because the dynamic beauty of the face and the infectiousness of the smile are mainly determined by the lower 1/3 of the face, as reflected in the coordination of the lips and teeth. There are even many parents who believe that as a modern city kid, no one can be considered a city kid without having orthodontic treatment. Regular checkups are required at the age of 3 to 9 years old. It is routinely believed that many special cases require early intervention, for example, bad habits such as “bunions”, open-mouth breathing and lip biting, which start during the milking period and lead to more and more severe dental development as they grow. During the replacement process of the permanent teeth, the most common problems are severe disproportion between the size of the permanent teeth, abnormal tooth eruption and bite interference leading to malocclusion. These problems require the removal of these bad habits at an early stage to get rid of the potential hazards in a short period of time, interrupt the abnormal jaw development, reduce the need and difficulty of later orthodontic treatment, reduce the extraction rate and side effects in orthodontic treatment, and avoid orthognathic surgery in adulthood. As recommended by the American Association of Orthodontists, children need to see a professional orthodontist before the age of 7. However, some characteristic situations require early intervention, so Mama Wang Ying Dentist recommends that children need regular checkups by a specialist orthodontist at the age of 3 to 9 to observe whether the jaws are developing normally and to inform interventions to help the eruption of teeth to normal positions. In addition, at that stage, the bone reconstruction is fast and plasticity is high, giving the teeth and jaws a good environment to grow to the correct position on their own and be more stable. Many parents have a common feeling when they come to the hospital because of their limited knowledge of malocclusion, how beautiful their children’s teeth are before tooth replacement, but problems arise during tooth replacement, and general dentists instruct them to come for treatment after tooth replacement, thus missing the best time for orthodontic treatment, or even the need for surgery in serious cases. The best age for orthodontics is around 12 years old Then when is the best time to do orthodontic treatment if the child has no jaw problems and orthodontic treatment is so important? Generally the best age for orthodontics is around 12 years old. At this time, the child’s entire dental arch is basically fully developed and the orthodontist can make a clear diagnosis of the type of malocclusion and adopt an appropriate orthodontic method. Oral pre-investment is low and the return rate is the highest. Guangdong is a region with a high prevalence of rhinitis, and many children have narrowed dental arches, protruding upper jaws and other “adenoid syndrome” faces due to respiratory obstruction, which require early detection and intervention. Wang Ying, the dentist’s mother, has observed that her child’s face shape has been severely altered at the age of 2 years and 1 month due to respiratory obstruction. Early preventive orthodontic treatment is relatively inexpensive and less prone to the possible side effects of the orthodontic process. At the same time children regularly visit the hospital for dental check-ups and develop the habit of seeing and caring for their teeth from an early age. Oral health is an important factor in ensuring general health and quality of life. Children are growing and developing and poor teeth will affect their nutritional intake, growth and development, speech and pronunciation, image and self-confidence. Oral prevention is one of the lowest investments with the highest rate of return. The best program to establish a good environmental balance As an orthodontist and a mother of a child, after reading a lot of professional and parenting books, I often think about the commonalities between orthodontics and parenting and learn from each other. Montessori’s philosophy emphasizes: love and freedom. But love and freedom without boundaries can have many to negative effects. Children need to learn rules in love and enjoy freedom in rules. The same goes for the teeth. The best treatment plan should be to establish a good balance of the dental and jaw environment with the help of external forces, and to release the natural growth of the teeth in a good environment. The natural homeopathic concept in Waldorf’s Human Intelligence also emphasizes the awakening of the body’s natural balance mechanism and growth potential with the help of minor external stimulation, thus activating the body’s own great restorative capacity and rebuilding the balance of strength in the jaw and face to achieve a natural, soothing and stable orthodontic effect. Lao Tzu said, “The Tao follows nature”. My understanding is to follow the power of nature. Modern human malocclusion comes from the unnatural external environmental changes caused by fine food and bad habits. Doctors are not God and do not know the best position of teeth and jaws. What doctors have to do is to create a good environment, let the forces of nature work, establish a good dental and jaw environment in the balance of forces, release growth in a good environment, and let children have beautiful, neat and healthy teeth in their natural growth. Orthodontics is one of the most specialized disciplines in dentistry, and preventive orthodontic treatment for children has a long observation period and requires more foresight. Choosing a pediatric orthodontist with extensive experience in long-term follow-up and treatment is more assured. It is not difficult to align the teeth, but to protect the health of the teeth themselves, to ensure the aesthetic and therapeutic stability requires the orthodontist’s dexterity and years of professional accumulation. As a long-time orthodontist for children, the most enjoyable thing is to see children with a world-accepted business card – beautiful and attractive teeth – and to watch them grow up and maintain the same nakedness as they do. After listening to the magpie’s words, King Wei Wen was “enlightened”, how about you, dear?