Jaw and Facial Development
Your First Appointment
Your First Appointment
1
Personalized Consultation
Everything starts with a personalized and detailed consultation with Dr. Mindy. You will complete a questionnaire to assess any sleep, breathing, TMJ, oral function, oral habit, pain, and other corresponding conditions.
2
Diagnostic Workup
We will then bring you in for a series of diagnostic photos, a Trios intraoral digital impression, and 3D CBCT imaging of your teeth, your jaws, your airway, and your TMJ. Dr. Mindy and her staff will complete a clinical diagnostic workup, ask a few more questions, and have a conversation with you to gain a full picture of your needs.
3
Treatment Plan
Following diagnostics, Dr. Mindy will present to you her findings, along with a treatment plan specific to your needs, treatment timeline, and a realistic idea of what is possible with nonsurgical intervention.
An Understanding of the Problem
Modern diet and lifestyle has brought with it an epidemic of shrinking human jaws. With this has come altered growth of the lower half of the face surrounding the jaws, collapse of the airway behind the jaws, and compression of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) associated with the jaws.
For details on specific conditions and their connections, see our Jaw & Facial Development menu:
More Information
Decades of research by brilliant anthropologists, dentists, physicians, and scientists has demonstrated the overwhelming shift in facial development and overall health since the Industrial Revolution, along with the health consequences that have come with it.
If you would like to learn more from some of the leading authorities in this area, here is a list of prominent professionals that have made a big impact in integrative airway, nutritional, sleep, and TMJ health:
Prominent Professionals & Resources
- Dr. Robert Corruccini, Anthropologist – How Anthropology Informs the Orthodontic Diagnosis of Malocclusion’s Causes
- Dr. Weston Price, DDS, Dentist and 1930s researcher – Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
- Dr. Kevin Boyd, DDS, Pediatric dentist and researcher on evolutionary jaw changes – Our Skulls are Out-Evolving Us
- Dr. Michael Gelb, DDS, TMJ specialist – Gasp!: Airway Health – The Hidden Path to Wellness
- Dr. Steven Park, MD, ENT – Sleep, Interrupted
- Dr. Sandra Kahn, DDS, Orthodontist, co-developer of GOPex (Good Oral Posture exercises) Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic
- James Nestor, Investigative journalist – Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
- Dr. Christian Guilleminault, MD, Sleep medicine pioneer studying airway compromise and sleep-disordered breathing
Dentists who put your comfort, confidence, and whole health first.
725 S 51st St, West Des Moines, IA 50265
Monday–Thursday, 8AM–5PM
