this was back in 2016 when i put a twinblock alf on. The alf was built into the twinblock and it was just what the dentist gave me... so i didnt really question it.
I believe expanders do more harm than alf.
I dont view pushing on teeth or bone directly to be useful. And alf uses far less force.
How did the ALF appliance work out for your son? Our orthodontist recommended the ALF and myobrace for my 10 year old daughter. But I've been told by others that it will only tip her teeth causing dentoalveolar damage and possible gum recession later on.
I don't think the ALF is a sideshow. Given my kids worked with Dr. Nordstrom beginning about 14 years ago. They way ALF was designed to be used, per Dr. Nordstrom, was in conjunction with an Osteopath. When my girls got their ALF 'adjusted' they were also being examined / worked on by a DO doing manual therapy. The DO would feel for restrictions in the cranial sacral rhythm, etc. and give feedback to Dr. Nordstrom, then he would adjust the retainer, and so on until the appliance was doing it's thing and the cranial rhythm stayed intact. Nordstrom is amazing. He's not a great business man though. ALF never seemed to fully take off as intended, given it was hard to find DO's that actually do manual therapy anymore, and who would come learn from him. When we moved and worked with another practitioner, we didn't have the DO. That made a HUGE difference. My daughter's teeth started to flare / tip, and I believe it's because we weren't getting the appropriate DO treatment alongside the ALF adjustment. We finished off with braces, but I know things are not 'right' completely. My kids were complex; Oldest had a top tooth in the wrong position and Dr. Norsdstrom dragged it into place. Pretty wild how it worked. Youngest had baby teeth stuck together and only one permanent came in. The other permanent and a supernumerary were in the bottom gum. We are still going thru the process of bringing the supernumerary tooth into position because the 'real' tooth embedded in her chin. We have chosen to leave it there and watch it over the years. Too delicate to try and remove. And I'm adamant about allowing her keep all her teeth as I know their importance. Revive might be what we do when this last tooth is 'in place'. But ALF, if done well, works, in my experience.
I've used about 4 ALF practitioners in the past and did all the osteo, etc. Was steeped in the mantra for a couple years back in 2018-19.
Also DIY'd with it for years with my old friend Marcello and prob have like 10 ALF's at home. Many of them i had a lab make directly. I am pretty confident i have a decent understanding of how it works.
I also think Darick is a good person with all the right intentions.
But i dont really agree when i hear things like 'dragging a tooth into place'. A simple $25 mouthguard and i guarantee a couple of months in that tooth and any other flared teeth would have corrected pretty easily.
There are a bunch of cases on our skool community of exactly that.
Once u see how this works as many times as i did.. it removes the air of mystery around it. And u realize how simple it actually is.
I know u probably wont agree. But i guess we'll just need to leave it there.
Oh, I don't disagree. I'm super curious and open to learning, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I can just say we had a positive (or so it seemed at the time) experience with Nordstrom back in maybe 2012?. It slowly fell apart when we moved and worked with other practitioners. I'm extremely intrigued by the idea of Reviv moving teeth like my daughters! She had a canine I believe it was, literally under her nose. So a reviv could move that over across her top teeth and down into its correct position? Wild if true. I'd love to be directed to anyone in the community who has accomplished something similar! As mentioned my youngest had a tooth never come in and migrate into her chin. It's stuck there for now, so we are leaving it. But there was a supernumerary that made its way into the correct position but of course couldn't come in on it's own because we are in braces now. Which I was completely against, but felt we had no other choices. No ALF (which I thought was a better choice) and no alternatives I could find. Then you show up in my FB feed, LOL. So, yeah, I'm open and interested and wanting to learn more before I leap into the faith and experiment on myself.
The reality is I feel pretty darn good. Great energy, fit, sleep well, happy, etc. I just don't like the effects of 1. narrow face and no room for all of my teeth as a child to 2. that leading to faulty orthodontics work making the matters worse. So I'd say it's more vanity for me. Are there health things that could improve? Sure. But I do feel great so not sure if I want to stir the pot and open a Pandora's box at 56 years old and going strong! Do I wait until problems arise (brain stuff concerns me given the alzheimer's in my family) or do I start now prophylactically?
Why not use just twin block without alf? And would you say an expander does more good than alf?
this was back in 2016 when i put a twinblock alf on. The alf was built into the twinblock and it was just what the dentist gave me... so i didnt really question it.
I believe expanders do more harm than alf.
I dont view pushing on teeth or bone directly to be useful. And alf uses far less force.
I see. Do you have anywhere you've written about why expanders are harmful that I can read?
yes.. i wrote this https://reviv.substack.com/p/palate-expanders-are-completely-wrong
How did the ALF appliance work out for your son? Our orthodontist recommended the ALF and myobrace for my 10 year old daughter. But I've been told by others that it will only tip her teeth causing dentoalveolar damage and possible gum recession later on.
I consider the ALF pretty much useless. Just use the myobrace.
You mentioned in another post that the Biobloc damage the teeth, palate and skull. Do you think the ALF can as well?
ALF is like a side show as it doesnt have much force.
Everything depends on what u are doing along with the ALF.
Some dentists leave you with an open posterior bite. That is bad.
Some dentists add flat composite to a few lower teeth to prop up the bite. That is good.
etc
I don't think the ALF is a sideshow. Given my kids worked with Dr. Nordstrom beginning about 14 years ago. They way ALF was designed to be used, per Dr. Nordstrom, was in conjunction with an Osteopath. When my girls got their ALF 'adjusted' they were also being examined / worked on by a DO doing manual therapy. The DO would feel for restrictions in the cranial sacral rhythm, etc. and give feedback to Dr. Nordstrom, then he would adjust the retainer, and so on until the appliance was doing it's thing and the cranial rhythm stayed intact. Nordstrom is amazing. He's not a great business man though. ALF never seemed to fully take off as intended, given it was hard to find DO's that actually do manual therapy anymore, and who would come learn from him. When we moved and worked with another practitioner, we didn't have the DO. That made a HUGE difference. My daughter's teeth started to flare / tip, and I believe it's because we weren't getting the appropriate DO treatment alongside the ALF adjustment. We finished off with braces, but I know things are not 'right' completely. My kids were complex; Oldest had a top tooth in the wrong position and Dr. Norsdstrom dragged it into place. Pretty wild how it worked. Youngest had baby teeth stuck together and only one permanent came in. The other permanent and a supernumerary were in the bottom gum. We are still going thru the process of bringing the supernumerary tooth into position because the 'real' tooth embedded in her chin. We have chosen to leave it there and watch it over the years. Too delicate to try and remove. And I'm adamant about allowing her keep all her teeth as I know their importance. Revive might be what we do when this last tooth is 'in place'. But ALF, if done well, works, in my experience.
Lisa i understand your perspective.
I've used about 4 ALF practitioners in the past and did all the osteo, etc. Was steeped in the mantra for a couple years back in 2018-19.
Also DIY'd with it for years with my old friend Marcello and prob have like 10 ALF's at home. Many of them i had a lab make directly. I am pretty confident i have a decent understanding of how it works.
I also think Darick is a good person with all the right intentions.
But i dont really agree when i hear things like 'dragging a tooth into place'. A simple $25 mouthguard and i guarantee a couple of months in that tooth and any other flared teeth would have corrected pretty easily.
There are a bunch of cases on our skool community of exactly that.
Once u see how this works as many times as i did.. it removes the air of mystery around it. And u realize how simple it actually is.
I know u probably wont agree. But i guess we'll just need to leave it there.
Oh, I don't disagree. I'm super curious and open to learning, otherwise I wouldn't be here. I can just say we had a positive (or so it seemed at the time) experience with Nordstrom back in maybe 2012?. It slowly fell apart when we moved and worked with other practitioners. I'm extremely intrigued by the idea of Reviv moving teeth like my daughters! She had a canine I believe it was, literally under her nose. So a reviv could move that over across her top teeth and down into its correct position? Wild if true. I'd love to be directed to anyone in the community who has accomplished something similar! As mentioned my youngest had a tooth never come in and migrate into her chin. It's stuck there for now, so we are leaving it. But there was a supernumerary that made its way into the correct position but of course couldn't come in on it's own because we are in braces now. Which I was completely against, but felt we had no other choices. No ALF (which I thought was a better choice) and no alternatives I could find. Then you show up in my FB feed, LOL. So, yeah, I'm open and interested and wanting to learn more before I leap into the faith and experiment on myself.
The reality is I feel pretty darn good. Great energy, fit, sleep well, happy, etc. I just don't like the effects of 1. narrow face and no room for all of my teeth as a child to 2. that leading to faulty orthodontics work making the matters worse. So I'd say it's more vanity for me. Are there health things that could improve? Sure. But I do feel great so not sure if I want to stir the pot and open a Pandora's box at 56 years old and going strong! Do I wait until problems arise (brain stuff concerns me given the alzheimer's in my family) or do I start now prophylactically?
are you in the community?
I think when you see all of the posts of others doing it for awhile the leap of faith seems a lot less like a leap. And more like a very small hop.
We give 1 month free so i recommend checking it out To join just make a request here
https://www.skool.com/reviv-2885/about
About your daugher, i would say play the long game... use the mouthguard to keep opening things up and letting things shuffle around.