Surgically Facilitated Orthodontics Therapy

Surgically facilitated orthodontics therapy (SFOT) is an advanced, interdisciplinary, approach to orthodontics in teen and adult patients that can expand the possibilities and speed of orthodontic treatment. Adult orthodontic patients frequently present with narrow jaws, crowding, and gum recession. Furthermore, patients with crowding often have thin bone surrounding the roots of their teeth which can make aligning teeth or expanding the arches high-risk for causing further bone loss, recession or even loosening of teeth. When designing your orthodontic treatment plan, Dr. McDonald always analyzes the thickness of the bone with advanced CBCT (3-D xrays) before treatment so that we can avoid this unintended consequence. When thin bone is diagnosed, Dr. McDonald works in collaboration with periodontal specialists to add bone via minimally invasive surgical procedures to thin bone areas of the dental arch. This grafting of new bone allows your teeth to be aligned and arches to be expanded safely and without causing more recession. Additionally, by performing minimally invasive surgical procedures in conjunction with orthodontics, your teeth are able to move about ~50% faster1 thus shortening your treatment time significantly. Dr. McDonald is highly experienced in SFOT, has lectured internationally on the subject and is a chapter author in the hallmark textbook on SFOT. By working together with your periodontist via SFOT, Dr. McDonald is able to achieve results that align your teeth and expand your arches safely and faster