While Dr. Johnson’s practice is closed for new orthodontic patients, understanding the paradigm within which his treatment stems is worth communicating. He remains actively engaged in a network of multi-disciplinary providers and regularly consults with patients to help guide their choices for optimal dental health, including finding the right practitioner for orthodontic care. Myofunctional therapy is still offered to existing and new patients and complements a variety of treatment beyond orthodontic needs.

Dr. Johnson’s orientation toward orthodontic treatment focuses on the features of the dental system that affect its function and how that function affects other systems in the body. The two most crucial components are the jaw joints (TMJ's) and the airway.

These topics are discussed under separate headers and we invite you to read on them there; airway driven dentistry and treatment of TMJ conditions remain an integral part of Dr. Johnson’s practice.

Optimally developing the dental system to enhance the function of the airway and the jaw joints is at the core of our treatment. This does not mean that we don't care about the teeth getting straight. It just means that we start by building a healthy foundation and finish with making the teeth straight. 


As we now know that oral muscle function causes and/or maintains the distortions that result in orthodontic issues, we incorporate myofunctional therapy into our treatment paradigm as well. This makes the changes go easier and faster (both modalities are “pushing” the same direction), and the end results more stable. It is therefore a given that if the muscles of
the mouth and face are not functioning properly, the orthodontic result will not be stable, and sometimes unachievable.


For example, if we have not been able to stop a child from mouth breathing, orthodontic stability will not happen.
The minute "retainers" are removed, relapse begins. This same concept applies to a vast number of oral habits and functions that compromise the dental system and can be improved or resolved through work with the muscles of the mouth, face, and neck: orofacial Myofunctional therapy.

For more information, give our office a call at 818-248-7976.