This word was first used by Dr. Robert Lee in the 1970’s when he was engaged in studying the mouths of middle-aged and older people who had no evidence of breakdown or deterioration in any of the components of their chewing systems. He defined it as "the study or theory of the beauty of living things in their natural forms and functions."
The results of his studies were ground breaking to say the least. He discovered that in mouths that stayed healthy for a lifetime there were always three (bio-mechanical) principles at work. These “bioesthetic principles” represented the reason why some people’s mouths stood up to the test of time, whereas others did not. Moreover, he found that when he restored a degenerated mouth in a way that put these principles into place, the chewing system became self-protective.
There are many early warning signs of this kind of degeneration. Things like recession of gums, loss of bone support around the roots of teeth, cracked and breaking teeth, and tooth wear are some of the more common signs that many dental professionals will dismiss as simply normal signs of aging. Dr. Lee’s research proved that this is not so.
Dr. Lee’s principles and teachings are taught today to dentists by an institute called Orognathic Bioesthetics International (OBI). This training uses a systems approach to diagnosing and treating degenerative diseases of the mouth. It teaches that a system such as the dental-facial chewing system cannot be completely understood by analysis of its parts, but only within the context of the larger whole.
The OBI web site can be found at www.bioesthetics.ca
Dr. David MacLean and Dr. Cameron MacLean have both completed all four levels of this training. The program involves approximately 300 hours of classroom time as well as countless hours in completing and documenting clinical assignments. In 2005 they were appointed to faculty and are now actively engaged in teaching the OBI curriculum.