Good dental function is significantly associated with better cognitive thought, better vision, better hearing, better lung volume, better heart volume, better muscle strength, better bone mineral content, less heart attacks and longer life. (Dent Oral Epid 1990 & BMJ 1989)

Natural Balance for the Dental System

• Compassionate Personalized Care
• Advanced Techniques
• Conservative Dental Restorations
• Digital & Computer Aided Diagnostics
• Enhanced Patient Education
• Wholistic Treatment Paradigm
• Coordinated Care When Appropriate
• A Comfortable and Unique Dental Office Experience

STARTING EARLY
By developing healthy habits and proper function early on, the need for more extensive corrective treatment later is greatly reduced.

PREVENTATIVE CARE
Preventative care in the form of routine dental cleanings and exams helps to preserve natural tooth structure & maintain existing restorations. It is important to take good care of the teeth and gums so issues like decay and gum disease do not threaten the dental system. Issues concerning the health and longevity of natural tooth structure and restorations are addressed to avoid loss of a tooth. There are options available to compensate for the loss of a natural tooth. Implants are the most preferable option as they are the closest to replicating the purpose and function of a natural tooth. Establishing and maintaining a proper bite, adequate airway, and healthy joints are vital for balance in the dental system. These three each directly impact and are impacted by each other. The bite, or occlusion, is the relationship of the upper and lower teeth when they come together.

FUNCTIONAL ORTHODONTICS
Though straightening the teeth is a goal of functional orthodontics, it has equally important “co-goals”. The steps in treatment involve identifying and resolving the cause of the problem, developing arch form and correcting skeletal relationships, and finally, straightening the teeth. These steps for evaluation and treatment create health and harmony in the dental system and consistently produce the best esthetic results.

CRANIO-MANIDBULAR DISORDERS
Misalignment of the jaw bone or joints is the most common type of a cranio-mandibular disorder. Such disorders can cause an assortment of physical ailments, many of which are not realized as being connected to the dental system. Frequent headaches, facial pain, postural issues, ear problems, and general fatigue are some of the common issues. The goal of this type of treatment is to resolve symptoms and correct the issues that created them.

AIRWAY ISSUES
An extremely widespread issue, airway distortion or restriction poses a serious detriment to overall health. In milder forms, it compromises quality of life. In more severe forms (a disorder such as sleep apnea), it can be fatal if gone untreated. The body's cells use oxygen to generate energy and produce carbon dioxide as a waste product. A reduced airway means reduction of oxygen intake, thereby compromising this vital process. The distortions caused in the dental system by airway issues are extremely detrimental and have reciprocating effects. The problems caused will foster the original airway issue while affecting increased dental maladies.

We would like to share with you about a new and exciting health paradigm. It has taken years to develop mostly because it takes considerable cooperation among several specialties. It is not based on drug therapy. It is not based on learning to live with pain. It is not based on managing problems. It is focused on repairing systems that are not functioning correctly so that the problems (symptoms) will have long-term resolution.

The development of the mouth (including the teeth, jaw bones, jaw joints, muscles, tongue, and gums) is influenced significantly by environmental influences as we grow. This simply means that if we suck our thumb, breathe through our mouth, or chew our fingernails, for example, we are going to distort normal growth of the mouth. This causes distortions in the dental system (crooked teeth, overbites, crooked jaws, etc.).

These distortions in turn affect other systems. For example, a crooked bite will produce a head to neck posture that is “crooked”. As neck muscles struggle to compensate, neck pain develops. The muscles of the shoulders and back are recruited to help the neck muscles, and they in turn struggle.

So we now know that bad bites and back pain are connected. As we have explored these relationships, many others have been discovered. The result has been that dentists like Dr. Johnson approach treatment from a whole-person perspective, understanding the intimate relationship the detnal system has with the other systems of the body.

Treatment becomes focused on treatment that results in the dental system becoming supportive to other systems. When your dental system is in balance and functioning properly, you breathe better. You sleep better. Your posture improves. It is a powerful health paradigm.

Once you grasp this paradigm you understand that while certain physical traits- eye color, for instance- are genetically driven, many are not- such as retrussive chins and crooked teeth. They are environmentally induced distortions and they can happen any time during life.

Some of the distortions are easily corrected, some are not. Some are correctable only in the growing child (a good reason for early invervention by an orthodontist who understands this paradigm). A “gummy” smile, for example, is a distortion not easily fixed at any time, and virtually impossible in the adult. An overbite, on the other hand, is quite manageable in both the adult and child without surgery, once it is understood that an overbite is a lower jaw posturing problem, not protrusive upper teeth.

A practitioner whose treatment is based in this total health paradigm asks about and looks for signs and symptoms that traditional or conventional dentistry does not.

When evaluating adults, the dentist will ask about, for example, snoring, clenching and grinding, headaches, earaches, tinnitus, dizziness, tooth sensitivity; he or she will look for signs such as gum recession, periodontal pockets, occlusal wear (not “normal”), and a deep bite.

In children, the dentist functioning in this paradigm will ask about snoring, restlessness, middle ear infections, attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, bed wetting, and mouth breathing; the signs he or she would look for include dry or chapped lips, decalcifications on front teeth, enlarged tonsils, retrussive lower jaw/chin, and deep or cross bites.

1. Growth and development significantly influenced by mother’s diet, then child’s diet through developmental years.



2. Allergens affecting the airway is the most significant influence on oro-facial development.



3. Normal downward and forward growth is exchanged for downward and backward growth, or insufficient downward and forward growth. The bottom line is that the oro-facial complex is underdeveloped, leaving the individual with an airway insufficiency.



4. Genetics and other influences, like types and extent of physical activity, diet, participate in the overall development of the individual.



5. The end result of this inappropriate oro-facial development, is a prescription for long term problems.



6. With the jaws held back, airway problems flourish. Asthma, allergies, snoring, sleep apnea, and chronic fatigue are all commonplace with airway compromise.



7. With the jaws held back, temporomandibular joint problems flourish. Clicking, popping, pain, locking open and/or closed, and pain all occur when there is insufficient forward growth.



8. With the jaws held back, postural problems flourish. Neck pain, head pain, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and back pain (upper and/or lower) are all routinely experienced when jaw posture is off.



9. With the jaws held back, ear problems appear. Pain, fullness, watery sounds, ringing, and stuffiness of the ears are all typical complaints from someone with jaw posture problems.



10. With airway problems, comes lowered oxygen saturation levels in the blood. This in turn affects every system and organ in the body. The thyroid is particularly sensitive to oxygen levels.

Bruce Johnson is a native of Eagle Rock and attended California State Universities at Fresno and Los Angeles before completing his Doctor of Dental Surgery at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center in 1976. He immediately began practice in Eagle Rock offering family dentistry and quickly widened his scope of care to a more comprehensive approach including orthodontic and TMJ/CMD treatment.

Over the course of his career he has been a member of the California Dental Association, the American Dental Association (ADA), the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain (AACP), the American Italian Dental Association (AIDA), the Glendale Academy of Dentists, San Fernando Valley Dental Society, Orthopedic Gnathology Study Group, San Gabriel Valley Implant Study Group, and a charter member of the American Association for Functional Orthodontics (AAFO*).

In addition to activities of the above organizations, Dr. Johnson has advanced his education and enhanced his practice through numerous educational courses, seminars, and study groups. He is founder and facilitator of the Southern California Dental-Cranial Study Group and is a member of of the Glendale Academy, the Implant Study Group, and the American Italian Dental Association. He participates in conferences and seminars for the organizations above as well as for those such as the International Association for Facial Growth Guidance, the Holistic Dental Association, Mid America Orthodontic Society, and BioResearch.

He has provided presentations for the Southern California Health Sciences University, San Gabriel Valley Dental Implant Study Group, USC Orthodontic Alumni Study Club, California Dental Association, and Sacro Occipital Techniques Organization on lecture topics such as TMJ for Chiropractors, Occlusal Splint Therapy, Muscle and Joint Parameters in TMJ Patients, Altering Occlusion for Periodontal Health,, and the Dental-Chiropractic Co-Treatment Paradigm.