It worries me that so few people understand orthotropics. Many think it is a new kind of mechanics but it is about biology which I am sure is why so few orthodontists understand Orthotropics.
The Stage 1 widens the suture rather than moving the teeth in the bone. The suture is made of interlocking bones so cannot be widened unless it is fractured which is what many orthodontists do however if you push slowly you can tilt the teeth which also makes the arch wider. The Stage 1 does neither of these but opens at about 1mm per week applying a very gentle force on the suture which results in the salts being removed from the bone so that it softens and grows apart at any age. Interestingly this growth is very stable (Skieller 1964). The teeth tilt slightly but move very little through the bone.
Routinely we widen for 10mm over 12 weeks but as I said this is mostly bony growth.. The Stage 1 is bad for tongue posture so three months is long enough. The Stage 1 also 1/ widens the lowers via the shelves. 2/ centres the mandible. 3/ Lengthens the arch 4/ reduces the Indicator Line, 5/ aligns the incisors 6/ closes any anterior spacing and 7 moves the whole maxilla forward about 2 maybe 3mm.
However the Stage 1 is only a small part of orthotropics it is the Stage 3 which achieves most of the correction. I keep on saying this but few orthodontists believe me thinking the secret is in the Stage 1. There is no secret all jaws grow forward and make beautiful faces if the mouth is closed..
Yes the tongue needs to be on the palate too but if you have a wide palate and have to keep your teeth together where will the tongue go? The locks are difficult to position and to progressively increase, but any intelligent person can do this. Amazingly I have taught orthotropics for over forty years and only a handful of people use the locks properly. Finally the patient must correct their subconscious posture I say this all the time because exercises alone will rarely achieve stability. However if you are forced to adopt the right posture all night every night for two or three years it becomes natural so the result is stable for life, which very very few orthodontic results are. Please tell the world this simple message as I am tired of doing so. Prof John Mew.