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Natural Awakenings Dallas -Fort Worth Metroplex Edition

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Whole Body Health at Frisco’s E Line Orthodontics

May 29, 2020 06:10PM ● By Annalise Combs

by Sheila Julson


Dr. Yoon Chang, owner of E Line Orthodontics, was exposed to many cultures as a child. His parents were in the international import business, which brought the family from Chang’s birthplace of Seoul, South Korea, to Chile and later to Peru. While these diverse environments were influential, Chang was struck by how his sister’s life had changed after she had completed orthodontic treatment. Her new smile gave her confidence in school and helped her greatly expand her social circle. That inspired Chang to help others achieve the same life-changing results through improving smiles.


Chang attended Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, and after graduating with a doctor of dental surgery degree, he moved to the U.S. and practiced general dentistry in Fontana, California for a year. He developed an interest in jaw joint temporomandibular (TMJ) pain and studied at the TMJ Disorder program and the International Postdoctoral Program in General Dentistry at the University of Rochester. He practiced general dentistry in the San Francisco Bay Area for a year and decided to pursue the Orthodontics Residency Program and Master of Science degree at Marquette University School of Dentistry, in Milwaukee. 


While he had outstanding mentors at Marquette University, Chang wanted to find a way to avoid bicuspid extractions in cases of moderate to severe dental crowding and find alternatives to surgery for patients with jaw disharmony. He learned about the work of Prof. Sadao Sato, an internationally recognized orthodontics specialist from Japan. 


“He taught the etiology of malocclusion from an adaptative and compensatory perspective, highlighting the fact that our bite is capable of affecting and influencing distant parts of the body,” Chang says. Sato’s approach includes examining the bite during function, understanding the existing jaw position dictated by teeth and creating a therapeutic jaw position based on different diagnostic tools, using orthodontics to accomplish that change. “His non-surgical approach was conservative, logical and made so much sense,” Chang notes. 


Chang trained under Sato for four years, learning craniomandibular orthodontics using the multiloop edgewise archwire (MEAW) orthodontic technique to move teeth beyond the limits of traditional orthodontics and create changes in jaw relationships. He moved to Dallas to be near family and opened E Line Orthodontics in 2012. 


“Traditionally, we think that teeth are just associated primarily with chewing, but teeth determine the position of the jaw, and the jaw influences speech, breathing, hearing, balance, body posture, vision and much more,” Chang explains. “When a person has an asymmetric jaw, the entire body has to compensate to hold that asymmetry. The neck bones have to twist and move sideways, and the entire spine and feet need to compensate to achieve neutrality, causing long-lasting consequences beyond oral health.”


Chang’s nonsurgical approaches includes the MEAW and gum metal edgewise arch wire orthodontic techniques. Both are customized orthodontic archwires that may move teeth beyond the limits of traditional orthodontic straight-wire system and have the potential to correct a wide range of malocclusions and cervico-craniomandibular dysfunction without orthognathic jaw surgery or bicuspid extractions. 


Chang’s Phase I early orthodontic therapy addresses craniofacial disharmony in children by redirecting and creating a suitable environment for a child’s craniofacial complex so that the jaws may adapt towards jaw harmony without the need of bulky extraoral appliances. Chang partners with other integrative doctors, therapists and dentists that focus and understand the dynamic nature of the craniofacial bony structures. 


To manage and treat temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, Chang uses TMJ axiography diagnosis, which evaluates patient’s joint function while talking, chewing, grinding and more. He uses Bruxchecker, a tooth grinding pattern checking appliance, along with an occlusal concept based on providing ideal TMJ support through axially oriented posterior teeth. 


Chang also offers conventional orthodontics for patients with common dental crowding without skeletal anomaly. But he applies the same approach; he doesn’t extract bicuspids and avoids as much as possible the reduction of tooth size due to overcrowding. He also avoids pre-made wires. “Most orthodontists use the same one-size-fits-all wire for everyone, but I customize every piece of the wire for each individual—my wrists are always tender, but that’s okay,” he jokes.


Chang could have chosen any line of work, and he’s happy he chose orthodontics. “When I’m able to change patients’ lives by managing pain symptoms and avoiding jaw surgery while giving them a great smile, I think that’s by far the biggest reward,” he shares. 


E Line Orthodontics is located at 3550 Parkwood Blvd., Building E, Ste. 101 A, in Frisco. For more information call 972-242-2040 or visit ELineOrtho.com.