Need for collaboration of pediatrician and orthodontist

At the Forsyth Dental Infirmary, Boston, the orthodontist, pediatrician, nutritionist and child psychiatrist collaborate to promote a more comprehensive approach to the patient with malocclusion of the teeth. Each discipline contributes a special facet to the total clinical assessment of the child. The diagnostic conference serves as an important educational experience in the program of the postgraduate fellows in orthodontics. The active participation of the orthodontist in this approach broadens his view of orthodontics as a health service and makes it possible for him to follow the same methods and procedures in his own practice. He is in a better position to determine when to consult medical specialists and to solicit their collaboration. In turn, the pediatrician learns to recognize the handicaps that dental and facial deformities can exert on the physical and psychologic well-being of his patients. He becomes aware of the significance of the different varieties of malocclusion and of the proper timing for orthodontic treatment.