Functional orthodontics

An orthodontic treatment strategy published around 1935 by Andresen and Häupl with so-called functional orthodontic appliances such as the activator. The concept is to influence facial growth by altering muscle function, ultimately leading to a “biological” correction of tooth alignement. Functional orthodontics was received enthusiastically in National Socialist Germany, dogmatically championed and has dominated German orthodontics for about 40 years. Even if today most orthodontists in Germany are “followers of Andresen and Häupl”, the essential statements of functional orthodontics have long since become outdated and don’t play any scientific role today.