I only managed to bring my child to the dentist once {you can read about our experience in this post here} and since I was told that my little man will have to be sedated to have his teeth cleaned, I backed out and decided for Jared to have his chompers checked out when he is a bit older and can easily handle the stress and the trauma. I was taken aback by the sedative which my son has to take and prayed since then to find a better and healthier dental service that will not involve sedating little children while cleaning their milk teeth. I was actually on the look out for another pediatric dentist to bring my son for teeth cleaning this summer so he will have clean, white teeth in time for school this June.  Although I’ve already found local pediatric dentists in our city, I am still undecided thinking they’d just offer the same treatment that includes sedative and other medicine until I got an invite to visit the Green Apple Dental/MRC Clinic.

Green Apple Dental/MRC Clinic, a first of its kind in the Philippines, is a brainchild of Davao-based orthodontics maverick, Dr. Gamaliel Urbi. He pioneers Myobrace Orthodontics in the country and is frequently asked to give talks about Myofunctional Orthodontics in different countries in Asia. Dr. Gamaliel is also the owner of the local MRC Clinic franchise. MRC Clinic or Myofunctional Research Clinic is an Australian-based dental concept technology that introduces innovative and holistic ways of improving dental and facial development of growing children ages 5 to 15. This one-of-a-kind dental clinic opened its first branch in 2009 and currently has 4 branches nationwide, located in different Ayala Malls in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, and Trinoma Mall in Quezon City. 

A Healthier Dental Care

Listening to Dr. Urbi talk about their holistic dental care and the fascinating stories of the children patients, and their dramatic transformation illustrated by photographs, he has treated over the years is simply an eye-opener. I must admit, I did have a limited idea of how dental hygiene will impact the lives of our children. I thought it was as simple as keeping the teeth healthy so the children won’t have to endure annoying toothaches, painful dental treatments, expensive procedures, or worse, an embarrassing tooth loss. I overlooked that unhealthy teeth can also be a primary reason for facial deformation, as well as in children having low self-esteem and confidence.

It was also very interesting to find out that Dr. Urbi’s treatment include a whole lot more in the process than merely cleaning children’s teeth, giving them orthodontic medicine and installing braces. In fact, there was never a time he mentioned they sedate children even while during oral prophylaxis. For mums like me who are weary of having these medicine in our children’s body, it sure is quite a relief to find a dental clinic that do away with sedatives and the like.

The revolutionary treatment Green Apple Dental offers includes teaching children to breath through the nose. Most mums are unaware that a lot of children are mouth-breathers and have learned to practice it through a number of different reasons including poor nutrition and bad posture. Even the practice of giving pacifiers to little babies can also result to them being mouth-breathers when they grow older, which in turn can pose a number of health issues and problems. Little did we know that our mouths are not really designed for breathing, and when children breathe through their mouths, they also inhale pollutants and allergens in their surrounding directly to their lungs, which in turn can make them sensitive and sickly and susceptible to a number of diseases. It is a healthy practice to keep the mouth closed and breathe through the nose, as our noses, with its natural filters called cilia, are designed to help us take the air in without inhaling the dirt around us.  Can you imagine that by simply teaching our children the proper way of breathing through the nose, they become healthier, with straighter teeth and nicer-looking faces, too?

Green Apple Dental teaches children the Buteyko Breathing Method, developed by the Russian respiratory specialist Dr Konstantin Buteyko. Apart from helping children get improved facial appearances and straighter teeth, it also provides benefits for people with asthma, diabetes, hormonal disorders, migraine, hypertension and digestive disorders.

Myofunctional Orthodontics in a nutshell