Question & Answer - Oral Sensory-Motor, Myofunctional, Vocal Tract, & Airway Information

Why "on earth" are orthodontists talking about posture?

It is clear that tooth crowding is much more prevalent today than it was a few generations ago. We can trace these malocclusion problems to the fact that most children with crowding hold their mouths open at rest.

Human biology explains that pressure stimulates bone cells to grow. We know that when astronauts travel into space they lose precious bone cells due to the lack of pressure from gravity. In the same way, when our muscles do not have good tone and are not exercised properly they will not exert the weight that bones need to maintain their optimal shape.

By understanding this principle GOPex (Good Oral Posture exercises) was developed to help our muscles by changing modern habits. A series of simple exercises can be incorporated into daily activities to train the muscles, like those of the tongue, to hold their posture on the roof of the mouth, with the adequate tonicity to apply pressure to the bone cells and in turn allow the maximum growth of the facial structures.

Utilizing daily activities like chewing and speaking, our brain can integrate changes that result in regaining the critical muscle tone needed for correct growth. And, by utilizing intention, we can teach children (and adults) to breathe in a way that will help develop proper nasal respiration, which allows the air to enter the body in the healthiest, most efficient way.

The GOPex program (Good Oral Posture exercises) is a regiment that guides children to acquire the habits that will foster excellent facial and jaw development and in turn allow them to achieve their full genetic potential with appropriately large attractive jaws, healthy airways,  and a full set of 32  straight and stable adult teeth (including Wisdom teeth).

Through GOPex, people are able to change behavior (e.g., improved breathing and sleeping) to maximize health and longevity. As people become healthier, they will also become more attractive (as a side effect). Having better muscle tone and improving the quality of rest will be noticed in many aspects of health including looks as well as in the way people feel overall.

With this, we welcome you to GOPex in order to help you, your children, or anyone you care about achieve better health. 

Here is what some people are saying about GOPex:

"GOPex shows you how simple exercises can help you improve your kids' oral posture and gain big health benefits from that."

— Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Biology Emeritus, Stanford University

"As a parent, GOPex is transformative and it makes you feel like you are in on a secret. You start noticing kids with their mouths open everywhere, and you just want to go tell them to start breathing through their noses. Careful, reading this book will change your life."

— David Leventhal , Parent of a child practicing GOPex and under othotropic treatment

"My three children have been mouth breathers at one point or other during their lives. I implemented GOPex with one of them, and the results are outstanding: greater self-confidence, clear speech, well-proportioned features, less colds and allergies, and straighter teeth. I will definitely use Dr. Kahn ́s easy to read and beautifully illustrated book for my other two children, and I suggest that you do too!"

— Lisa Antillon Kantrowitz, Radio personality, Expert in Environmental and Public Health Education

"Having tried other complex methods to teach my chronic mouth breathing children to close their mouths, breathe through their noses and swallow correctly, GOPex was life changing. It is a very simple and yet powerful tool that teaches your children correct posture."

— Gorete Ferreira , GOPex mother and professional photographer

ABOUT THE AUTHORS of GOPex

Dr. Simon Wong, BDSc, FICCDE, DipLSFO is a graduate from the University of Melbourne and a practicing clinician since 1991. Trained by Dr. John Mew in London and Dr. Bill Hang in Los Angeles, he developed the program Good Oral Posture exercises based on their principles of Facial Growth Guidance. He is the Head Fellow's Mentor and Examiner at the London School of Facial Orthotropics and tasked to refine treatment strategies to implement in his early intervention program.

Dr.Wong's foundational belief and driving passion in helping children develop correct oral posture will undoubtedly create the change needed across the globe to rectify multiple chronic health problems endemic in modern society.

Website: http://naturalsmilescentre.com.au/

Dr. Sandra Kahn, DDDS, MSD is a graduate from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco, California. She began her work in orthodontics with a specialty in physical anthropology at the University of California in Berkeley focusing her studies on human craniofacial growth and development.

After 22 years of clinical experience in orthodontics treating thousands of patients, Dr. Kahn was not satisfied with traditional orthodontics as a solution for treating her own children. In 2013, she retired from "traditional" orthodontics to focus on "airway-centric" orthodontics, with a concentration on pediatric prevention of long-term Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Her approach is to treat the entire face and not just the teeth.

Dr. Kahn has been invited to serve on craniofacial anomalies teams at both Stanford University and the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF). She is now an author and international lecturer on the topic of airway- centric orthodontics. Dr. Kahn is currently the only Diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics that practices exclusively Biobloc Orthotropics and airway-centric orthodontics.

Website: http://www.forwardontics.com/kahn.html