At the Biomed's office today, I learned many things I didn't know. This information along with older research I had questioned all came together, and now I need your input.
First the info:
1. Bedwetting is different than continence during the day. It is regulated by a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland and only when the gland has produced a sufficient level can night time continence occur.
2. Sociability, including passivity, "quiet nature" etc., is regulated by a hormone secreted in the posterior part of the pituitary gland.
3. Thyroid function is controlled by a hormone secreted by the anterior part of the pituitary gland.
(See where I'm going with this yet?....Wait, there's more)
4. Regulation of height and weight.....pituitary gland
Do problems with the above listed functions sound like anyone we know?
The pituitary gland sits atop the hard palate of the mouth in the sell turcica. (Does anyone we know have a small mouth and a high or narrow palate?)
OK...
Dr. Weston Price's groundbreaking research which studied Native peoples who ate a nutrient dense diet revealed among other things, they had superior structure. These peoples were tall, physically superior (and beautiful), had large bone structures, and were of superior health and intelligence. The majority of his research focused on diet and how the Native american peoples ate. It wasn't until the Europeans with their wealth brought refined flours and processed foods to the Americas that structures began to change. Shorter stature, heavier, smaller bone structure, etc.
Dr. Price went on to study fascinating things, but none more so than the hard palates of people with Down Syndrome. If you click on the following link, you can read a fascinating article, and right in the middle of it you will find a 6-month photo collection of a young man who has extremely typical features of Down Syndrome and was treated with an orthodontic expander. The visual change itself is astonishing, but beside that, the young man grew and experienced a significant increase in measurable intelligence to name just a few.
http://www.westonaprice.org/dentistry/from-attention-deficit-to-sleep-apnea
Some other issues Dr. Price attributed to a small hard palate with a narrow or high vault was sleep apnea, chronic respiratory infections, and decreased intelligence.
Sound like anyone we know?
So, prior to connecting all of these dots, I had read about and was impressed with the idea of a dental expander. It falls under the category of extremely little risk for potentially high reward which exactly the kind of thing I like. The thing was, I kept thinking about the way it would affect speech production,
and then of course there is the compliance issue, all of these things made me think we should wait until he was older.
Today, I've had an epiphany. My middle son Ryan is currently undergoing dental expansion for the usual orthodontic reasons...his mouth is too small for his adult teeth to come in properly. His first expander will be in for 34 days. 34 turns. The outcome? over .5"!!!
Could I deal with a nightly battle for 34 nights... could I accept poor articulation while the expander is in, all tolled about 2 months...all for a significant amount of room for the pituitary gland to function properly? You bet.
I am not interested in waiting until adult teeth come in, especially since expanding now will increase the likelihood they will come in appropriately. Why not do it now?
If you have any insight, experience, or ideas, I would love to hear them. This is the part of the journey that is most exciting. A few seemingly unconnected symptoms, one conversation that ties all of them to one origin, and a plan (and of course an orthodontist willing to go along with it, which I happen to have!)
