when I was a prep school about nine
years old my mistress was talking about
the book of Genesis and how the world
was created in a week and she was saying
you know we should treat it as an
interesting story but not consider that
everything was exactly true and one boys
who was in the class stood up and said
but my father says everything in the
Bible is true of course this portrait of
eternal could spot she didn't want to go
against true religious teaching so she
pulls from women I can remember it very
clearly when I was nine years old I
remember the position of her the desk
the boy the chairs and she said when you
go up something that was his name you'll
realize that grown-ups are always right
and I can remember the depth of that
statement and it has influenced me for
the whole of the rest of my life if
someone tells me something I said yes
interesting in my mind I'm thinking I
wonder how true that is
and how it fits in with all the other
things and it just makes me a bit of a
suspicious chap anyway I didn't do well
at school where I was bottom of the
class most of the time and it wasn't
until I struggled through not my
qualification and started practice but I
think I really learned anything much
about dentistry at all initially I was
interested in surgery I wanted to be I
think a famous surgeon who wouldn't so I
went to what was actually at the time
the best center in the whole world they
were dealing with all the UM polyps who
are coming back from the war with really
severe facial injuries and therefore it
was but out out the most advanced
surgical unit for faces in
in the world and I was learning from the
very best people who was surrounded by
the very best students and so it was
exceedingly good for me anyway
um there I developed the idea of the
structure of the face and how it's
supported mainly by the maxilla of the
upper jaw on the mandible the lower jaw
and how they relatively grow to
different shapes and that basically is
what creates of facial identity of what
I didn't really like about the unit was
the lifestyle and the attitudes of
Surgeons although that seemed to be
great drama queens you know I've seen
insertion the throw instruments across
the fiat floor I'm not nearly that
wasn't that uncommon they were very
emotional people I decided this is not
for me but I was already by then very
interested in the development of the
face um particularly the teeth so I
thought I'll switch into orthodontics
and it wasn't until then I decided to do
orthodontics of course it was seven
years after that that I actually am
qualified as an orthodontist but the
same feature about the auto
netic surgery was the way they would
move the upper jaw forward and the
really quite dramatic improvement that
this would create to the whole of the
face and I was quite impressed by this
people come in for surgery looking
really very ordinary you remove the
upper jaw forward and it's something
much better
so that really impressed me but I found
the team by great interest the during my
orthodontic training this orthodontist
pull top drawer back
I didn't realize why the time now I know
is because they don't think you can move
the large all afford fell fourth the
teeth or a bit like this you'll have to
move the outfit all back his normal way
can you remember that moment that you
started questioning the orthodontics and
trying to find another part well I was
already full of some conflicting
messages from the surgeons and the
orthodontist so my line would live
busily trying to resolve those my father
was really quite a philosopher and one
of the things he taught me is there is a
reason for everything now dude possibly
my stubborn nature
I just cannot relax on knowing there is
a reason but not knowing what that
reason is therefore whenever I see a
contradiction or just an unexplained
Lama I feel it has to be an answer here
and so I feel in the sense of an
obligation to find the answer for that
idea that's my job particularly if I'm
treating patients and they have a
problem then it's my job to answer that
problem and the work I think of were and
salaah a huge remove completely
unanswered very serious problems about
medicine of generally but in particular
the growth of a body and even in more
particular the growth of the face we are
all the same human beings yet all our
faces are different do you know the
variation in the shape of the face is
far greater than the variation in the
shape of any other part of the body that
is a fascinating bit of information but
of course that's to be a reason for that
why is it now at that time I was fixing
all these things together in my mind and
I then came across purport well if we
take an animal like for crocodile they
have almost well the jaws should I say
about that long that's about six forces
jaw but Italian roll all the way around
two meters we
two lentils anyway now the forked aisle
will only survive is his teeth meat
perfectly if the teeth like that like
that he'll die now that is a what they
call in evolutionary terms a very strong
driving factor therefore all the animals
who are like that or like that die
only the ones are like that live now
because every crocodile has to but had
that teeth meeting that has to be a
mechanism for that to happen the the
actual growth process is not that
accurate
therefore I realize there has to be a
growth modification system that ensures
the teeth meet properly both for humans
and rock tiles these were just some of
the faults but retching around my mind
as I gradually formed this what really
need a big big difference was I was
treating a young girl and by then I
thought I was fairly competent but
getting jaws to grow and things move
around I was using functional appliances
which is a I now think rather in
inefficient method but destroy use a lot
around the world anyway these firms
woman did generally help to move the
jaws in the right direction but this
girl had her large offset battle for bit
not badly so I thought would be quite a
simple matter to get it to go home yes
her large always bet the mandible
maxilla was in the more or less right
position she was quite a pretty girl and
that to me now indicates her that her
maxilla with in the right position but
she for some reason instead of biting up
round the supplants she took down and
biked bit behind it which would have
been unusual and the very quickly I
found that the lurch always going back I
thought the help that's alright so I
stopped their plans they went only home
that add on and on and
and I was absolutely horrified but this
attractive girl became more more
unattractive and I was at my wit's end
I was really junior I didn't mean who
graduated a couple of years or so so I
went back to my teaching hospital and
said look what's happening and I can
remember the two deans looked at her an
examiner they're Italian in the end they
said John don't worry it's nothing to do
with you it's just the way she's grown
it's her genetic worth because they as
I'm afraid most orthodontists to this
day believe but this shape of the face
is inherited whereas by then I had
already decided it was environmental
that is it changes depending what you do
in order for the teeth to me anyway um I
had a tremendous conference about this I
thought I had destroyed this girl's life
and in the truth I believe I did but I
made it my life's task from that moment
on and I can remember making that
decision but I would make this up I
would discover whiter gone wrong and I
would ensure that it never happened or
anyone else
now I seen it happen to a lot of other
people since but I always sit by there
and say oh I know why it's happened and
I realize why it happened is simply
because she was keeping her mouth open I
haven't realized what a huge influence
that makes but there I've come across
other evidence since and in children
who've accidently got blocked noses that
this just totally changes for no other
reason they have a block notice I've
watched people who have muscular
dystrophy the muscles waste away and
have no power and the whole face just
broke down and is destroyed so these
were the basis on which I thought there
must
it must be possible to reverse these
things if things are going wrong it must
be a physiological change and if it's a
physiological change you must go both
ways
you can't had something Bologna go one
way so that is what made me develop the
science if you call it that or more for
trillions which is almost in total
confrontation with orthodontics and I
never intended from from the
orthodontist I didn't want to they were
my friends but I was believing one thing
and they were believing another and
gradually it drove us apart and I don't
think I'm particularly aggressive to
them now but they are certainly very
aggressive to me just because I have a
different opinion