The American Academy of Medical Orthodontics® (AAMO) conducts research in various areas of medicine, orthopedics, orthodontics and dentistry. The aim of the AAMO is to educate all specialists, health care providers and patients on how to treat many medical conditions by simple use of orthodontics alone!
The mission of the AAMO is to help train physicians, dentists, orthodontists, nurses, specialists, patients, as well as insurance companies about a relatively unknown phenomenon coined as Medical Orthodontics®. Medical Orthodontics® simply refers to treatment of a few dozens of chronic medical and dental conditions via conservative non-surgical orthodontic treatment.
Since many adults (even teens) hate the thought of braces and wires for many reasons, Clear Aligner Therapy such as Invisalign has become the ideal choice for the majority of those needing orthodontics. In addition, through resources like 3D CAD/CAM scanning and advanced Clincheck software, we can precisely control and manipulate the ideal position for teeth, bone and jaw movements.
It is critical to have a deep understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in the movement of teeth as well as on the precise amount of movement in order for Medical Orthodontics to be successful. Therefore, we can no longer simply move teeth around to make them look pretty, because it can have adverse effects. Instead, we are moving teeth into specific positions to make them more functional, healthier, so they can last longer and provide 40+ medical and dental benefits no one ever thought could be possible! As this concept is not taught in dental schools and medical institutions, the majority of health care providers are unaware of it and billions of chronic illnesses remain unsolved!
Many patients suffer from various medical issues, for which there has been no real cure thus far. Up until recently, both physicians and dentists, as well as many health care providers, did not have the real answer to the etiology and cure for common issues, such as migraine, jaw problems, sleep apnea, tinnitus, ringing ear, and pain in head, neck and shoulder area.
These conditions typically resort to long term chronic care, extremely invasive procedures, such as surgery, or lifetime medications, including steroids, pain killers and anti-depressants. In the US alone, 38 million people suffer from migraine. The economic, psychological, emotional and financial costs of such chronic issues are devastating to patients, tax payers and health insurance companies. Unfortunately, invasive treatments or medications are simply a short term band-aid; they do not provide a real long term cure.
Medical orthodontics applies the concept of craniofacial balancing to orthodontic treatment in order to align, level and balance out teeth and the relationship between upper and lower jaws. This is mainly performed by moving teeth into their exact intended position, making sure that there is an ideal contact between top and bottom teeth and perfect axial inclination using 3D models, such as in Clincheck® 3D CAD-CAM modeling for Invisalign®. This creates perfect balance and harmony, releasing all unnecessary tensions in head and neck joints, muscles, neuromuscular structures, nerves, arteries, dural membranes, fibers, and the entire skull and spine. Medical Orthodontics® can treat many chronic medical issues, which were previously considered as unrelated to proper occlusion/alveolar symmetry.
Some examples of medical issues treated with simple orthodontic solutions include tinnitus, migraine, radiating head, neck and shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain, breathing issues, sleep apnea, ADD and much more.
Up until recently, orthodontics had been mostly used for esthetics and cosmetics purposes. However, Medical Orthodontics® is a new concept, which is about to revolutionize the field of dentistry, orthopedics and medicine, enabling us to treat numerous chronic medical issues without surgery, using orthodontics as a tool to enhance patients’ lives.
More importantly, because there is evidence to prove that medical issues can arise from orthodontic problems and because we can treat many of those medical conditions via orthodontics, the cost of treatment should no longer be a factor of concern for patients who need treatment. It is our goal to train insurance companies to understand that they can save billions of dollars per year by simply agreeing to pay for orthodontic treatments.
This is especially important since dental insurance considers orthodontics as a cosmetic procedure. Usually, orthodontic treatments do not get covered by dental insurance; in rare instances it offers total lifetime coverage of $1000 per patient, which is why most patients are not able to afford it.