Postural Orthodontics
Advanced Course Phase 4 Live Mentoring
12-Month Exclusive One to One & Group Mentorship Program With Dr. Wong
Before you enroll in this mentorship program you need to apply here. It only takes ~5-10 minutes to complete the application form. After your submission, Dr Wong will review them within 48-72 hours and we'll revert via email to set up a 1:1 Zoom Video call with Dr. Wong to see if the program is a good fit.
ADVANCED/MENTORING STUDENT SHARES HER EXPERIENCES...
Program Summary
Phase 4 is a 12-month+ interactive, group coaching program (you can extend beyond 12 months a quarter at a time etc) via Zoom (livestream online) AND one to one mentoring experience where you get to submit up to 2 private case studies for Dr Wong's review every 2 weeks. Each fortnight, Dr. Wong holds a group Q&A mentoring Zoom call that lasts up to 3 hours. The maximum number of people in any such 3-hour group call will be 9 or 10.
The cases submitted need to be for patients between the ages of 3-10 (ideally under 8). Dr. Wong talks about the importance of case selection and he will only supervise cases that are 'mild to moderate' malocclusions. Once again, with Phase-4 mentoring, Dr. Wong is only supervising you based on Postural Orthodontic techniques (where the treatment time is generally 12-18 months) and NOT Orthotropic methods which can take 4-5 years to complete and are far more complicated to complete successfully.
You will need to format your case information in a particular way (in a Powerpoint following the template as set out in Phase 1 and 3). An example of the format can be seen below. On these Zoom calls Simon will go over your case info in details and others can listen in and learn at the same time. You can even record simple cell phone videos of your clinical work (inserting appliances etc) - and get feedback on these calls.
The cases submitted need to be for patients between the ages of 3-10 (ideally under 8). Dr. Wong talks about the importance of case selection and he will only supervise cases that are 'mild to moderate' malocclusions. Once again, with Phase-4 mentoring, Dr. Wong is only supervising you based on Postural Orthodontic techniques (where the treatment time is generally 12-18 months) and NOT Orthotropic methods which can take 4-5 years to complete and are far more complicated to complete successfully.
You will need to format your case information in a particular way (in a Powerpoint following the template as set out in Phase 1 and 3). An example of the format can be seen below. On these Zoom calls Simon will go over your case info in details and others can listen in and learn at the same time. You can even record simple cell phone videos of your clinical work (inserting appliances etc) - and get feedback on these calls.
Currently, our group calls are held Sundays (every 2 weeks) starting at 8:30am Melbourne/Sydney, Australia time. As we are getting more and more demand from Europe, to cater for the various time zones around the world, we will be splitting up the 3-hour call into 2 x 1.5 hour calls (where each call has a maximum of 4-5 people). Or we may have 2 hours on one call with up to 6-7 people and one call for 1-hour with a maximum of 3 people. You will be able to attend both calls but only have your cases critiqued by Dr. Wong on one of the calls where you are in the 'hotseat' for 20-30 minutes. Please email us at info@StraightTeethNaturally.com to get the latest schedule/times for our Phase 4 calls.
We will also record all the calls and all cases submitted by students for Dr. Wong's written and verbal feedback will be made available to other students for review. The benefit of a 'group call' format along with personal 1:1 feedback during the group Zoom call, is that what's relevant to one student's case may also be useful to your case as well, in the event you don't get all your questions answered during your 1:1 hotseat time with Dr. Wong.
We will also record all the calls and all cases submitted by students for Dr. Wong's written and verbal feedback will be made available to other students for review. The benefit of a 'group call' format along with personal 1:1 feedback during the group Zoom call, is that what's relevant to one student's case may also be useful to your case as well, in the event you don't get all your questions answered during your 1:1 hotseat time with Dr. Wong.
We will also open up the time slot starting at 9:30pm Melbourne/Sydney Australia time on Saturdays which is a good time for folks in Europe and in Asia. (Please use www.WorldTimeBuddy.com to see what time this translates to for your city).
You can join at any time during the year and furthermore, when you join, you'll get access to all previous Phase 4 Q&A group mentoring call recordings and case submissions that have occurred on a fortnightly basic since 2021.
Please note: for an additional fee you can request visiting Dr. Wong's practice Natural Smiles Centre in Melbourne should travel permit - for details please visit https://www.straightteethnaturally.com/clinical.
Instant access to the recordings of group calls from inception (beginning of 2021): You'll also get access to all our students' case studies (pdf format with written notes), reviewed by Dr. Wong, accumulated since we started teaching this program (beginning of January 2021 - with each year yielding about 60+ hours of training. The core Phase-4 training are all the calls recorded from 2021). These case studies submissions follow the same guidelines as set out in Phase 1 and 3, with patient info being anonymized etc. Here is a sample of such a Phase 4 case study. Click here.
"Filling in the gaps in your understanding of Phase 1-3": Perhaps just as a important, besides giving feedback to cases live during the calls, Dr. Wong also goes into more in-depth training during these fortnightly sessions in areas covered in the first 3 Phases of the Advanced program. This is your chance to fill in the gaps in your understanding of Postural Orthodontics. No matter when you join the Phase 4 program, to get the most out of the experience, ideally you should go through ALL the first year's recordings from Phase 4 (systematically)...from the beginning of 2021.
"Filling in the gaps in your understanding of Phase 1-3": Perhaps just as a important, besides giving feedback to cases live during the calls, Dr. Wong also goes into more in-depth training during these fortnightly sessions in areas covered in the first 3 Phases of the Advanced program. This is your chance to fill in the gaps in your understanding of Postural Orthodontics. No matter when you join the Phase 4 program, to get the most out of the experience, ideally you should go through ALL the first year's recordings from Phase 4 (systematically)...from the beginning of 2021.
Exclusive & Limited One to One Access to Dr. Wong (Max. Around 6-7 Students Per Session)
Due the nature of this 1:1 personalized mentoring where Dr Wong reviews your cases individually, there is a limit to how many students we can take on at any given time. Currently there are only ~5 students (please email us to find the latest numbers and schedule) in our mentoring program and we will max out at around 6-7 or so students per group (there's 2 groups...one on Saturdays and one Sundays every 2 weeks). This small support group will act as an invaluable mastermind which you can take outside of the group calls so you can all support and learn from each other. You will have to contact us at info@straightteethnaturally.com to see if there's any availability in this program.
Mentoring time-frame: Before you decide to enroll in the Phase 4 experience, just like 'mini-residences' that are spread out over 3+ years, if you want to reach a high level of competency in this area of Postural Orthodontics and later in Phase 5 and beyond - Orthotropic related cases, then consider also having a 3-4+ year time frame when it comes to being mentored by Dr. Wong in his area of expertise. If your goal is only to learn Postural Orthodontics, then this time-frame may be cut to around 12-18 months.
Only pay 3-months at a time: While the Phase 4 experience is at a minimum a 12 month mentoring program, we understand that you may only wish to trial your mentoring experience with Dr. Wong so we allow you to pay on a quarterly basis where you can discontinue at any time. (For ease of logistics, you are enrolled in auto pay every 3 months and you just have to email us if you don't want the next 3-months of mentoring etc. After one year, you can enroll in another 12-months of live fortnightly mentoring and pay on a quarterly basis - and discontinue also after each quarter).
However, should you decide to discontinue at any point before your complete at least 12 months of mentoring, your access to the live fortnightly mentoring (and personalized review of your cases and other student's cases), Phase 4 resources and recordings of all past Phase 4 group Zoom calls from inception...stop as well. Once you invest in a full year of Phase 4 however, then you will get ongoing access to the recordings of that first year of Phase 4 recordings for future review. (The same goes for following years). And so long as we're still in the business of teaching, you will still have access to these recordings and resources indefinitely as a point of reference once you've completed each 12 months of mentoring.
EXAMPLE OF STUDENT'S SUBMITTED CASE STUDY (REVIEWED OVER TIME BY DR. WONG)
ADVANCED/MENTORING STUDENT SHARE HER EXPERIENCES...
Minimum Participation Levels To Stay In The Mentoring Program
Our goal is to help teach and mentor other dentists who are on the same mission to duplicate the results Dr. Wong has achieved these past 10+ years in the area of early intervention. We understand however, not everyone wishes to practice Orthotropics and the majority of Phase-4 students will be just want to develop competency with Postural Orthodontics. As such, in our experience it is absolutely critical that you are 100% 'all in' before you consider joining this committed group of students. This will require a minimum attendance of 4 out of 6 fortnightly live sessions before you are eligible to continue each quarter. If you cannot achieve this, and don't have a valid reason for meeting this quota, we have the option of discontinuing your involvement each quarter.
Perhaps more importantly, we need a minimum submission of 2 separate case records at least every 6 weeks so Dr. Wong can see where you're at with your patients. Case records that you need to submit (photos, xrays etc) are similar to the format set out for Phase 3 cases. You have of course the option to submit up to 2 cases per fortnight, and what we've found so far, is that on average, folks submit around 1 case for review each fortnight. But at the bare minimum if you don't submit at least 2 cases every 6 weeks, we will most likely need to have a 1:1 call to see why and whether it makes sense or not to continue the mentoring for another quarter.
Perhaps more importantly, we need a minimum submission of 2 separate case records at least every 6 weeks so Dr. Wong can see where you're at with your patients. Case records that you need to submit (photos, xrays etc) are similar to the format set out for Phase 3 cases. You have of course the option to submit up to 2 cases per fortnight, and what we've found so far, is that on average, folks submit around 1 case for review each fortnight. But at the bare minimum if you don't submit at least 2 cases every 6 weeks, we will most likely need to have a 1:1 call to see why and whether it makes sense or not to continue the mentoring for another quarter.
Optional: Early Access to Phase 5 (Introduction to Orthotropic training)
There is the option to go through a mock assessment by Dr Wong in the 3rd quarter of the live mentoring (i.e. you've enrolled and paid for at least 9 months of live mentoring). Should you pass this test, you can be then be eligible to access Phase 5 training (the live or the recorded version) which is an intro to Orthotropics where we look at dealing with moderate and significant skeletal malocclusions. There are more details below regarding Phase 5 etc. Some of you may not be interested in Orthotropics so you can just opt out of this assessment and continue with the Phase 4 mentoring.
Please note, getting access to Phase 5 training does not mean you can start submitting Orthotropic type cases for supervision by Dr. Wong. You will have to pass a formal exam after a minimum of 12 months of live Phase 4 mentoring has been completed.
Phase 5 will be 4 half day (4x4-hour) trainings (US$2500). These have all been recorded and are only available online now. Phase 6 (which has not started yet), will be designed to go deeper into the Biobloc Orthortropics process. The format will be more clinical days (whether recorded or in-person) and at some point transitioning out of Phase 4 mentoring and into monthly mentoring calls for more advanced students only. Details coming!
Please note, getting access to Phase 5 training does not mean you can start submitting Orthotropic type cases for supervision by Dr. Wong. You will have to pass a formal exam after a minimum of 12 months of live Phase 4 mentoring has been completed.
Phase 5 will be 4 half day (4x4-hour) trainings (US$2500). These have all been recorded and are only available online now. Phase 6 (which has not started yet), will be designed to go deeper into the Biobloc Orthortropics process. The format will be more clinical days (whether recorded or in-person) and at some point transitioning out of Phase 4 mentoring and into monthly mentoring calls for more advanced students only. Details coming!
When Can I Submit Orthotropic Type Cases (Moderate to Severe Malocclusions That Take 4-5 Years To Treat) For Supervision & The Formal Exam Requirements...
Even though most Phase-4 students just want to learn Postural Orthodontic techniques (where the treatment time is just roughly 9-12 months vs Orthotropic type cases which are far more difficult to treat and can take 4-5 years to complete), we have been asked numerous times whether Dr. Wong can consult on private cases 1:1. The answer is 'yes' on the condition it's in the format of this Phase 4 ongoing live mentoring (which is a combination of group coaching and 1:1 support).
In addition to this, only after the FORMAL exam/test is passed will Dr. Wong supervise any Orthotropic type cases which involve severe malocclusions. This formal exam involves a verbal test by Dr. Wong for 75 minutes. You will need to have a thorough knowledge of a) treatment planning b) technical tools and c) do a live case presentation. More details of the exam criteria provided once you join this program.
Please note, this formal exam can only be sat AFTER a full 12 months of live mentoring has been completed. So once you've enrolled into your 2nd year of mentoring (you can enroll one quarter at a time), you're eligible to sit the formal exam and if you pass, then you will not only have access to Phase 5 training (2-days of Orthotropic training) but you can then start submitting private cases (up to 2 per fortnight) that involve significant or severe malocclusions or Orthotropic type cases.
When will you be ready to take the formal exam and pass realistically? It depends of course on your experience and skill levels but Dr. Wong believes on average about 18 months (to give you some rough expectations). Some will be ready within 12-15 months and others 18-24 months. If you don't pass the first time, you can prepare further and sit the formal exam a few months later. (Please note, there's no exam fee as it's included in the mentoring). As the average Postural Orthodontics (expansion only cases etc) takes about 12-18 months to complete, this is the minimum period for Dr. Wong to evaluate whether you can move on to more complicated cases.
In addition to this, only after the FORMAL exam/test is passed will Dr. Wong supervise any Orthotropic type cases which involve severe malocclusions. This formal exam involves a verbal test by Dr. Wong for 75 minutes. You will need to have a thorough knowledge of a) treatment planning b) technical tools and c) do a live case presentation. More details of the exam criteria provided once you join this program.
Please note, this formal exam can only be sat AFTER a full 12 months of live mentoring has been completed. So once you've enrolled into your 2nd year of mentoring (you can enroll one quarter at a time), you're eligible to sit the formal exam and if you pass, then you will not only have access to Phase 5 training (2-days of Orthotropic training) but you can then start submitting private cases (up to 2 per fortnight) that involve significant or severe malocclusions or Orthotropic type cases.
When will you be ready to take the formal exam and pass realistically? It depends of course on your experience and skill levels but Dr. Wong believes on average about 18 months (to give you some rough expectations). Some will be ready within 12-15 months and others 18-24 months. If you don't pass the first time, you can prepare further and sit the formal exam a few months later. (Please note, there's no exam fee as it's included in the mentoring). As the average Postural Orthodontics (expansion only cases etc) takes about 12-18 months to complete, this is the minimum period for Dr. Wong to evaluate whether you can move on to more complicated cases.
Getting Your Case Studies Reviewed Inside a HIPAA Compliant Platform
You can submit your own patient case studies for evaluation by Dr. Wong (up to 2 cases per fortnightly Zoom meeting) inside the 'Healthie' HIPAA compliant platform which is very secure.
Dr. Wong will provide written feedback for cases submitted and may also provide verbal feedback during the fortnightly sessions depending on whether that fortnightly session permits given whatever else is being covered that group class. On these mentoring calls which last on average 3 hours you can also get help with whatever areas you need a better understanding of that was covered in previous trainings. We will provide specific guidelines and protocols for case submission (for example, you will need to submit cases inside Power Point slides similar to the format you saw inside Phase 3.) For Phase 4, we only allow 'expansion only cases' (mild skeletal malocclusion) to be submitted for review. More complicated Orthotropic cases are only reviewed by Dr. Wong after you've successful passed your formal exam as mentioned above.
Dr. Wong will provide written feedback for cases submitted and may also provide verbal feedback during the fortnightly sessions depending on whether that fortnightly session permits given whatever else is being covered that group class. On these mentoring calls which last on average 3 hours you can also get help with whatever areas you need a better understanding of that was covered in previous trainings. We will provide specific guidelines and protocols for case submission (for example, you will need to submit cases inside Power Point slides similar to the format you saw inside Phase 3.) For Phase 4, we only allow 'expansion only cases' (mild skeletal malocclusion) to be submitted for review. More complicated Orthotropic cases are only reviewed by Dr. Wong after you've successful passed your formal exam as mentioned above.
The submission deadline is Sunday midnight Melbourne time, 7 days before each Sunday live Q&A session (that start at 8:00am Melbourne Time). This will give Dr Wong the week to go through all the submissions and provide written feedback and verbal feedback during the Q&A sessions every 2 weeks.
To obtain the 2023 schedule for 'Phase 4' LIVE Q&A sessions with Dr. Wong please email info@StraightTeethNaturally.com
Please note, you can join at any time during the year and each 'Qtr' you enroll in, gets you access to the next 6 fortnightly Q&A calls (ie you do not have to join at the beginning of each quarter as listed below - you could start say in May or August or whenever you've completed Phase 3 recorded training at your convenience.)
DOCUSIGN AGREEMENT: FOR HIPAA COMPLIANT PRIVACY PLATFORM
As part of this Advanced Phase 4 program. you will need to sign an electronic agreement to get access to our HIPAA compliant platform (which is very secure) where the live Q&A sessions are housed. You will be sent an electronic document (via DocuSign) to sign online: "Agreement to Participate in the Postural Orthodontics Advanced Course & Mentorship Programme". Most likely you would have signed this agreement as part of Advanced Phase 1, 2 and 3.
This online agreement essentially acknowledges that your submitted patient case studies for Dr Wong's review have received consent from the patient's family that you can use their records for educational purposes. We will also have specific guidelines regarding how to submit these cases (so to keep private your patient details and keep his/her identity anonymous etc.)
ADVANCED/MENTORING STUDENTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES...
DOCUSIGN AGREEMENT: FOR HIPAA COMPLIANT PRIVACY PLATFORM
REGISTration options
Please note: To register for Phase 4, you must have completed Phase 1, 2 and 3 already. Register here.
You can join any time during the year!
Before enrolling in Phase 4, you need to fill out the application form here and then have an interview with Dr Wong to see if it's a good fit for both parties. If you've already spoken to Dr. Wong as part of joining Phase 1, 2 and 3 then this call won't be necessary unless either party would like to set up an additional call.
Please email us at info@straightteethnaturally.com to see if there are any openings available in this personalized mentoring program and if so schedule a time for a 30 minute interview.
Please email us at info@straightteethnaturally.com to see if there are any openings available in this personalized mentoring program and if so schedule a time for a 30 minute interview.
PHASE 4
12-MONTH MENTORSHIP PROGRAM WITH GROUP Q&A PLUS 1:1 CASE REVIEWS
CURRENT PRICING
US$13,997
4 QTRLY PAYMENTS OF US$3,500**
OR one payment of US$12,997
(email us for the 1 payment option)
(PRICES IN USD*)
* For Australians, this price includes GST
** You can discontinue at the end of each quarter - just email us at info@straightteethnaturally.com to stop the quarterly auto-pay
FORTNIGHTLY Zoom LIVESTREAM INTERACTIVE DISCUSSIONS WITH DR WONG OVER 1 year (24 SESSIONs: each a min. of 2.5 to 3 hours)
FORTNIGHTLY CASE EVALUATIONS BY DR WONG IN OUR HIPAA COMPLIANT CHAT FORUM ('HEALTHIE' platform) OVER 3 MONTHS
faq
What does Phase 4 involve?
What does Phase 5 involve?
After a minimum of 6 months of mentoring, in the 3rd quarter you may elect to sit a mock test and if you pass to a satisfactory level you will be eligible to get access to Phase 5 training which will be US$2,500 (inc. GST) where 2 additional days of lectures (4 half days spread over 4 months) will be made available to introduce Orthotropics. If you can't make it live, we will have the recordings available. Please note - even though you can start the process of learning about Orthotropics this does NOT mean you will get any supervision of Orthotropic type cases as Dr. Wong discourages starting any such cases until you have at least done 12 months of mentoring and passed the formal exam as mentioned above.
The fundamentals of this technique will help prepare these doctors for the following year’s Phase 6 progression of learning which involves more clinical days in person or via recordings.
Phase 5 Dates (2021 - they've since past, and have been recorded):
Sunday 5th September: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 26th September: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 31st October: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 28th November: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
The fundamentals of this technique will help prepare these doctors for the following year’s Phase 6 progression of learning which involves more clinical days in person or via recordings.
Phase 5 Dates (2021 - they've since past, and have been recorded):
Sunday 5th September: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 26th September: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 31st October: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Sunday 28th November: 9am to 1pm Melbourne time
Indeed we have considered the significance of the financial investment for Phase 4 and subsequent years of training ahead. Also, we are deliberately not marketing this advanced program heavily right now as Dr Wong wants to mentor closely only a few handful of doctors who are truly committed to this journey. Those of you, who do join this smaller tight knit group and take advantage of the fortnightly direct access to Dr Wong and next phases of training, will no doubt receive the value you seek.
Conceptually it is critical for the doctor providing Postural Orthodontic and Biobloc Orthotropic care to deliver on their promises and be appropriately compensated for their efforts.
It has been Dr Wong's experience that those who consider the investment for Phase 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 tuition fees ‘expensive’ also stumble in presenting to the prospective patients, the ~US$6,000 Postural Orthodontic and ~US$15,000 to US$20,000 Orthotropic treatment plan case presentations.
Those who are not prepared to invest in high-level mentorship rarely are confident to provide high-cost treatments. Those who do not provide high-cost treatments, rarely deliver consistent results.
In any industry, professionals deliver. It is Dr. Wong's vision for you that you will become a highly respected and sought after expert in our field.
Let's make a dent in this world of early childhood intervention!
How Do I Discontinue The Mentorship Program?
While the Phase 4 experience is intended to be a 12 month mentoring program (which you can renew every year), we understand that you may only wish to trial your mentoring experience with Dr. Wong so we allow you to pay on a quarterly basis where you can discontinue at any time. For ease of logistics, you are enrolled in auto pay every 3 months and you just have to email us at info@straightteethnaturally.com if you don't want the next 3-months of mentoring etc.
However, should you decide to discontinue at any point, your access to the live fortnightly mentoring (and personalized review of your cases), Phase 4 resources and recordings of all past Phase 4 group Zoom calls from inception...stop as well.
Are There Any Minimum Requirements To Stay In the Mentoring Program?
Yes.
Our goal is to help teach and mentor other dentists who are on the same mission to duplicate the results Dr. Wong has achieved these past 10+ years in the area of early intervention. As such, in our experience it is absolutely critical that you are 100% 'all in' before you consider joining this committed group of students. This will require a minimum attendance of 4 out of 6 fortnightly live sessions before you are eligible to continue another quarter. If you cannot achieve this, and don't have a valid reason, we have the option of discontinuing your involvement each quarter.
Perhaps more importantly, we need a minimum submission of 2 separate case records at least every 6 weeks so Dr. Wong can see where you're at with your patients. Case records that you need to submit (photos, xrays etc) are similar to the format set out for Phase 3 cases. You have of course the option to submit up to 2 cases per fortnight, and what we've found so far, is that on average, folks submit around 1 case for review each fortnight. But at the bare minimum if you don't submit at least 2 cases every 6 weeks, we will also need to have a 1:1 call to see why and whether it makes sense or not to continue the mentoring for another quarter.
Our goal is to help teach and mentor other dentists who are on the same mission to duplicate the results Dr. Wong has achieved these past 10+ years in the area of early intervention. As such, in our experience it is absolutely critical that you are 100% 'all in' before you consider joining this committed group of students. This will require a minimum attendance of 4 out of 6 fortnightly live sessions before you are eligible to continue another quarter. If you cannot achieve this, and don't have a valid reason, we have the option of discontinuing your involvement each quarter.
Perhaps more importantly, we need a minimum submission of 2 separate case records at least every 6 weeks so Dr. Wong can see where you're at with your patients. Case records that you need to submit (photos, xrays etc) are similar to the format set out for Phase 3 cases. You have of course the option to submit up to 2 cases per fortnight, and what we've found so far, is that on average, folks submit around 1 case for review each fortnight. But at the bare minimum if you don't submit at least 2 cases every 6 weeks, we will also need to have a 1:1 call to see why and whether it makes sense or not to continue the mentoring for another quarter.
further information about postural orthodontics
What are the learning objectives of Postural Orthodontics?
- Evaluating facial growth patterns and a rational choice of diagnostic and therapeutic orthodontic treatment procedures in the developing malocclusion
- Minimizing skeletal, dentoalveolar and muscular problems, by the end of the transition to the permanent dentition.
- Simplifying and/or shorting treatment time for later corrective orthodontics
Why learn Postural Orthodontics & the GOPex Method?
- Improves facial harmony
- Creates room for crowded teeth & increases tongue space
- Reduces airway collapsibility
- Stabilizes orthodontic corrections
- Helping the largely ignored market of 3-11 year olds
-
Makes it possible to have straight teeth naturally
Historically, orthodontic literature rarely advocates for Phase 1 therapies because very few have shown improvement over teenage fixed appliance protocols.
Postural Orthodontics and the GOPex exercises is a new, innovative way of early intervention orthodontics that has been highly effective. Our approach, based on Orthotropic principles and foundations, addresses malocclusion based wholly on clinically trialled & proven methods.
And when it comes to sleep disorder breathing and vital function health, new research points out the many great benefits of targeted early intervention—which is precisely the reason for our methodology.
Why the GOPex Method?
GOPex (Good Oral Posture exercises) are powerful and effective in improving airway disorders and compliance issues.
That’s because they strike at the very root of malocclusion.
They are short (10-15 minutes), simple exercises that are easily incorporated into the family’s daily routine, truly helping patients change their habits—unlike the majority of myology programmes.
Dr. Sandra Kahn has also developed the GOPEX App. to optimize compliance. Using the app, parents can get direct feedback from the practitioner on their child’s exercise techniques.
Please download for free our GOPex book to learn more. Or you can purchase a copy on Amazon here.
Why the Postural Orthodontics system?
Postural Orthodontics is a unique approach to early intervention utilizing existing techniques (Orthotropic principles and appliances) and new methods and protocols that are evidence-based and results oriented.
Functional Orthopedics has been practised for almost 100 years. Most orthodontic systems use some form of functional expansion appliance, incorporating orofacial myology.
Our orthodontic profession theorizes that bone growth can be stimulated by functional activity. Accordingly, conventional phase 1 appliances & exercises leverage functional movement, hoping to stimulate jaw growth.
But these treatments haven’t been proven effective in creating substantial, lasting changes.
In fact, over the last 40 years of clinical trials, we have never been able to show significant clinical changes through any of the traditional phase 1 treatment systems.
They move teeth around a bit better but don’t help the jaw to grow better.
The GOPex method primarily assists in improving the rest positions of the jaws & muscles. It’s considered posturally-focused, rather than functionally focused. This is a critical distinction because body growth happens only at postural rest, not in functional motion.
Over the past 10 years of research in clinical practice, we have generated hundreds of case studies showing significant results.
The first 145 cases have been accepted for research evaluation at the University of Alberta, University of Valencia and Autonomous National University of Mexico. In addition, as of July 2021, we are now excited to announce that highly renowned Orthodontic Researcher - Dr. Peter Buschang of Texas A&M will be starting research on my clinical cases specifically related to hyper-divergence.
Preliminary findings presented at the Summer meeting of Spanish orthodontics society 2019 by Prof José Luis Gandía - Franco from the University of Valencia in Spain, showed more than promising results.
We compared our Postural Orthodontics method with the standard twin-bloc approach (the most popular functional appliance) in a class-2, division-1 malocclusion case.
We had 3 to 7-fold improvements over what twin-bloc could provide.
As expected, the functional appliances only affected the dental alveolar bone, with no skeletal change. Whereas our method resulted in improvements of 3.46 degrees in ANB (vs 1.37) and 1.92 degrees of reduction in Y-axis (vs .26).
Each presenter has a different philosophy and technique so it becomes very confusing having to decide who is "more' right than the other and whose philosophy/technique to "buy into". What was your journey into Orthotropics and how is Postural Orthodontics different from other early intervention courses and techniques?
How It All Began
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How I Got into Teaching and the Forwardontics Connection...
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Sandra is my counterpart in character and personality. My two talents are the ability to recognise what is important and the capability of taking the complex and explaining it simply. Hers is the gift of drawing together the talented with the influential.
Together we formed an unlikely partnership and co-authored the book GOPex (Good Oral Posture Exercises: a set of exercises based on my grandmother’s culture of manners and presentation). Sandra then formalized GOPex into a technology App that has the potential to remind all generations to come of what is possible…
…of how we are meant to behave and who we are meant to be.
Sandra took what was just a backwater experiment in my tiny clinic Down Under and launched it into the heart of the community of Europe’s oldest Orthodontic University and then onwards to those institutions of influence around the world.
From my unwavering belief in John’s Tropic Premise and her decisive support of my contribution to our profession via her company, Forwardontics, she gave me an initial platform to share what I had learnt with the world.
From a clinical perspective, what I do, is take 7 and 8-year-olds who have grown in malformation and laboriously, painstakingly and unrelentingly, create a semblance of harmony.
Documenting the process in detail so that I can share my work with other colleagues hasn't been easy...but this is what I have set out to do with Postural Orthodontics.
My method takes the egocentric doctor out of the equation of a child’s life and returns the responsibility of a child’s upbringing into the hands of those who truly care for their well-being, their parents.
Postural Orthodontics is in some sense a stepping stone to more complicated Orthotropic cases, introducing dentists to a safe and structured approach to treating milder malocclusions "expansion only cases".
At 52, I am who I am. No time soon will I be giving up my "carrot and stick" but for those who look to me for guidance, be glad the Forwardontics connection paved the path that encourages all of us to find our way home...and for this, I am truly grateful to Sandra and others who are on the same holistic mission to revolutionize the lives of our children.
Together we formed an unlikely partnership and co-authored the book GOPex (Good Oral Posture Exercises: a set of exercises based on my grandmother’s culture of manners and presentation). Sandra then formalized GOPex into a technology App that has the potential to remind all generations to come of what is possible…
…of how we are meant to behave and who we are meant to be.
Sandra took what was just a backwater experiment in my tiny clinic Down Under and launched it into the heart of the community of Europe’s oldest Orthodontic University and then onwards to those institutions of influence around the world.
From my unwavering belief in John’s Tropic Premise and her decisive support of my contribution to our profession via her company, Forwardontics, she gave me an initial platform to share what I had learnt with the world.
From a clinical perspective, what I do, is take 7 and 8-year-olds who have grown in malformation and laboriously, painstakingly and unrelentingly, create a semblance of harmony.
Documenting the process in detail so that I can share my work with other colleagues hasn't been easy...but this is what I have set out to do with Postural Orthodontics.
My method takes the egocentric doctor out of the equation of a child’s life and returns the responsibility of a child’s upbringing into the hands of those who truly care for their well-being, their parents.
Postural Orthodontics is in some sense a stepping stone to more complicated Orthotropic cases, introducing dentists to a safe and structured approach to treating milder malocclusions "expansion only cases".
At 52, I am who I am. No time soon will I be giving up my "carrot and stick" but for those who look to me for guidance, be glad the Forwardontics connection paved the path that encourages all of us to find our way home...and for this, I am truly grateful to Sandra and others who are on the same holistic mission to revolutionize the lives of our children.
Left to right, back row: Prof. Jose Luis Gandia, Franco, Dr. Bill Hang, Dr. Mike Mew, Dr. Simon Wong, Dr. German Ramirez, Prof. Dror Aizenbud, Dr. Kevin Boyd
Left to right, front row: Dr. Sandra Kahn, Prof. John Mew, Dr. Maria Jose Munoz, Ms Esther Gokhale
Left to right: Dr. Mike Mew,Dr. Simon Wong, Dr. Bill Hang, Prof. John Mew
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