A new challenge has been emerging for medical and dental practitioners since before the turn of the century. Research shows that up to 90% of children will develop malocclusion and the majority of them will also develop an airway disorder. While millions of people suffer from TMJ disorders, it is estimated that well over one billion people worldwide are suffering from airway disorders, with the majority going undiagnosed. Meanwhile, the healthcare system is doing very little to prevent this far-reaching and growing epidemic.
When nasal breathing, the muscles of your mouth are able to rest in the correct position, which then leads to good growth and development. Breathing through the mouth, however, changes the position of your facial muscles and this has been proven to lead to an array of dental issues, including poor facial growth, crowding of the teeth and TMJ disorders. Mouth breathing is also recognised by the medical community as a subset of Sleep Related Breathing Disorders (SRBD) which have a significant negative impact on health.
Most treatments temporarily manage the symptoms of these problems and have risks, limitations and side effects. MRC's treatment systems present a better way of treating the underlying airway and muscular causes of these problems by rehabilitating the patient in a simple and non-invasive way. Aside from the dental benefits, a correctly functioning airway carries with it a myriad of other health benefits as well.
The current prevalence of sufferers and the increasing demand for better alternatives means that there is no shortage of people requiring treatment. Practitioners are constantly looking for new ways to broaden their skill set so they are able to help more patients. In very little time, MRC's online education teaches you to use our systems and differentiate yourself from other practitioners by providing the type of treatment that more and more patients are seeking.
Over the past 100 years, there has been considerable research published about the causes of orthodontic and jaw joint (TMJ) problems. Dr Chris Farrell discovered that most of these causes relate to incorrect breathing and swallowing, also known as incorrect myofunctional habits. Unfortunately the majority of the dental and medical profession in the 1980s did not know or did not accept this research, although the majority of children in any population had a developing malocclusion and many adults suffered pain from TMJ disorders. These widespread disorders were not being adequately treated because of the lack of knowledge and resources. Dr Chris Farrell decided to address the treatment of these problems using intraoral appliances with appropriate design characteristics built into each universally fitting model. This would allow many more patients access to this treatment and would allow both doctors and trained auxiliaries to perform this type of treatment in a more efficient manner than was previously possible.
Computer-aided design (CAD) technology was in its infancy in 1989 and no intraoral dental appliances had yet used this technology. However, CAD technology served as a crucial part of the development of MRC's products.
Since 1991, the products have been introduced into the dental and medical professions, beginning with Australia and New Zealand. Though, considerable time was needed to acquire the necessary government approvals to expand into other countries. By 1993, FDA approval for the USA and Europe had been granted, allowing the educational process to commence on a wider scale. Japan, South East Asia and South America followed in subsequent years. Dr Farrell and Dr Flutter lectured extensively in these countries to illustrate the advantages of the new Trainer and The TMJ Appliance systems.
Although the concepts were not new, acceptance within the professions has been slower than expected, sometimes due to insufficient knowledge of the subject and/or political resistance. At the present time, the products have overcome many of these barriers and are now being used in more than 100 countries throughout Europe, the Americas and in Asia.