I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Helen Jones, a dentist from the UK who spent the early part of her career managing extraction cases until she became discouraged by the treatment results. It started her on a journey to find a better way to manage deficient jaw size and airway problems in younger children. It is now her mission to raise awareness regarding the benefits of beginning orthodontic treatment at a younger age than we are conventionally taught.

Helen and I discuss:

· What a paradigm is and why/how the paradigm in orthodontics is shifting from taking a reactive approach to treatment to taking a more proactive approach.

· How Helen became so dismayed by the traditional reactive approach to orthodontic treatment and how this led her to become so passionate about exploring a more proactive approach.

· How her time practicing in South Africa helped shape her approach to both dentistry and authority.

· The way the National Health Service in the UK controls what dental and orthodontic procedures that can be performed.

· The time she spent with John Mew and her thoughts on his approach to treatment, as well as why John was vilified and deemed “unfit to practice” by the General Dental Council.

· How she broke free from the dogmas imposed by the NHS and started treating preadolescent patients.

· The impact that a lecture by Dr. Brendan Stack had on her life and career.

· The role that working with osteopaths played in Helen’s understanding of the fascia and how it connects the mouth to the rest of the body.

· The importance of looking at the entire child, not just the mouth and teeth.

· The need to move away from looking at the teeth and mouth as a separate entity.

· Whether or not you can get some degree of sutural change throughout life.

· If orthodontists are resistant to a more proactive approach to treatment out of fear.

· The mission of the new interdisciplinary group of medical and dental professionals called The Society for Dentofacial Growth & Function that Helen is putting together.

· How the General Dental Council is targeting people in the UK who promote early orthodontic treatment.

· The politics and siloing of care in the British health system.

· Helen’s advice to parents and clinicians when it comes to early orthodontic treatment.

LINKS:

-Dr. DeLuke’s article in OrthoTown (Part I): https://www.nxtbook.com/farran/orthotown/orthotown-june-2023/index.php?startid=54#/p/54

- Dr. DeLuke’s article in OrthoTown (Part II): https://www.nxtbook.com/farran/orthotown/orthotown-november-2023/index.php?startid=52#/p/52

-Society for Dentofacial Growth and Function - www.ConnectingHeads.com; https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vjnwtuwjh30uhiuyxzc0y/SDGF-Zoom-Meeting-June-13th-2024.mp4?rlkey=bcuyhlmghr53ahoz8jcil0bb0&st=ra5hpp1s&dl=0

-Jane Tarrant’s book Rose Loses Her Nose: https://linkbreathing.samcart.com/products/rose-loses-her-nose-book