Abstract

Early Expansion; the Panacea for Avoiding Extractions?

by Moser Lorenz

Nowadays it is more and more difficult to motivate patients and parents to undergo extraction treatment as they believe that with the implementation of the latest advances in technology dental and skeletal arch expansion can 'cure all ills'. In order to avoid extractions and the loss of the patient to a competitor, many orthodontists propose lengthy and cumbersome dental or skeletal arch expansion approaches which considerably increase patient discomfort and turn out to be inefficient and unstable in the long run. The speaker will illustrate that early or late extraction therapies still have a place in the armamentarium of even the mostly digitally equipped orthodontic office as the principles of biology and biomechanics remain unchanged. A critical viewpoint supported by the latest evidence-base literature regarding expansions in order to avoid extractions will try to eliminate unproven claims which unfortunately may lead to inefficient and hazardous treatments and will ruin the credibility of our specialty in the long-term.

Learning Objectives

After this lecture, you will be able to appreciate the validity of early and late extraction treatment
After this lecture, you will be able to avoid inefficient and expensive expansion treatments
After this lecture, you will be able to reduce both treatment duration and complexity with extractions