Guiding atypical facial growth back to normal. Part 1: Understanding facial growth.

Many practitioners find the complexity of facial growth overwhelming and thus merely observe and accept the clinical features of atypical growth and do not comprehend the long-term consequences. Facial growth and development is a strictly controlled biological process. Normal growth involves ongoing bone remodeling and positional displacement. Atypical growth begins when this biological balance is disturbed With the understanding of these processes, clinicians can adequately assess patients and determine the causes of these atypical facial growth patterns and design effective treatment plans. This is the first of a series of articles which addresses normal facial growth, atypical facial growth, patient assessment, causes of atypical facial growth, and guiding facial growth back to normal.