Choose your orthodontist wisely. Orthodontics is an art and much of the knowledge orthodontists need to know cannot be found in textbooks.
Cody Simpson, whose music we love and listen to daily in our office and whose hair sticks up similarly to mine and has some serious dance moves, had braces at age 9. It appears this was his only set.
What you see pictured above is nearly 75% of his top teeth showing from below his upper lip with a smile. We can all agree, he’s got a cute smile at 9 years old.
Also pictured is Cody at age 13, with only about 20% of the upper teeth showing. What changed between his 9-year-old and 13-year-old smile?
Now, with nearly full lip lateral extension and in function while singing, you see no teeth. Why? Because his singing is so clear and great, we can rule out severe wear or trauma to the front teeth. Cody’s orthodontist might have put his braces in the wrong spot in his face vertically relative to his nose, lip function, lower lip shape and eyes. Cody isn’t the only one to walk out of an orthodontist’s office with this look. This mistake is made by many orthodontists daily.
There is no apparent reason why skeletally Cody’s teeth should be hidden behind his top lip. Often, the skeletal pattern and jaw proportions can be to blame for this finished look.
Like I said, I love his music and dancing abilities and am a fan of his success and know he will continue to be a star. This scenario may have other contributing factors that I cannot see, and may contribute to my esthetic finding.
The moral of the story is to choose your orthodontist wisely. We believe in full face orthodontics. It isn’t just teeth, it is your life. Orthodontics is an art… much of it is not in the textbooks.
