Page 808 - My FlipBook

806 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESTHETIC FACIAL CONTOURS.
cing on the one luuid the excessive pressure of large teeth and concomi-
tant alveolar development, and on the other a lack of pressure from an
irregularity or injudicious extraction) in effecting a change in the in-
herent shape or size of the maxillary bones beyond that which the
alveolar process is forced to assume to accommodate them, has been a
question of considerable controversy. It is reasonable to assume, how-
ever, that natural influences exerting a slight force upon the immature
maxillary or other bones, during early stages of their growth, would

Fig. 838. Fig. 839.

have somewhat the same effect that is known to be possible later by
artificial force.
The following case will serve to illustrate this principle :
Patient aged thirteen years. When presented the upper incisors
were fully the width of a tooth posterior
Fig. 840. to a normal position, and so badly in-
locked, in occlusion, that the crowns were
nearly hidden behind the lower. (See
Fig. 838.) With the exception of the
upper canines, which were forced slightly
out of alignment, all the other teeth in
both jaws were in proper position and
occlusion. (See Fig. 839.) The posterior
position of the inlocked incisors was not
due, in the slightest degree, to a lingual
inclination of their crowns, but the re-
trusion extended to the roots as well
and seemed to involve the intermaxil-
lary process, producing a decided depression of the overlying features.
(See Fig. 840.)
The probable history of the cause of this condition is as follows :
The lower incisors erupted much earlier than the upper, and there being