ORTHODONTHIC MYTHS AND FACTS

All medical professionals, including Specialists of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, strive to base their practice on evidence. However, obtaining adequate evidence is not always easy, especially when it comes to orthodontic treatment modalities. Firstly, we cannot give our patients the placebo. Secondly, as much as we know about growth, development, and aging, there is no certain way to predict the response to treatment or no treatment. Therefore, many times we lack what is considered good-quality research.

For a long time, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses have been on the top of the hierarchy of scientific evidence. Most clinicians like them since they are easy to understand and interpret. Nevertheless, they are often based on retrospective or cross-sectional studies that can be flawed for numerous reasons, including patient selection bias.

By summarizing and presenting the evidence from currently available literature, this lecture will try to bring more light to present-day orthodontics discussions and dilemmas, like the connection between orthodontic treatment and the airway, class II correction, use of CBCT in orthodontic diagnostics, maxillary expansion, aligner treatment, distalization, etc.

Key Words: Orthodontic myths, Orthodontic facts, Airway, Class II, Aligners, CBCT

Neda Stefanovic, Assistant Professor at the Department of Orthodontics Faculty of Dental Medicine University of Belgrade

Dr. Neda Stefanovic is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Orthodontics Faculty of Dental Medicine University of Belgrade, where she has obtained her DMD, MSc, and PhD, as well as a specialty degree in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. Dr. Stefanovic has done her PhD research in cooperation with the Department of Orthodontics and the Craniofacial Imaging Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA, where Prof. J. Martin Palomo, who is an expert in the field of craniofacial imaging, informatics, and airway analysis, mentored her.

Her research interests are mostly focused on airways, orthognathic surgery, genetics, and most recently quality of life assessment and factors predicting functional treatment outcome and patient cooperation.

Dr. Stefanovic teaches undergraduate, as well as postgraduate students at the Department of Orthodontics University of Belgrade, and has lectured both nationally and internationally. She has published and presented numerous scientific papers, authored a monograph, co-authored four chapters in two books on 3D craniofacial imaging, and is a reviewer in seven scientific journals. Since March 2019, she has been spending time at orthodontic departments at CWRU in Cleveland (OH, USA) and the University of Rijeka (Croatia) learning more about newly available orthodontic treatment modalities, doing research, and teaching.