Forwardontics, like standard orthodontics and dental orthopedics, is concerned with how the teeth are arranged, but it works to correct problems with the teeth in conjunction with those of jaw size and facial structure.

It is especially concerned with avoiding the serious problems that can develop in the airway. Although Forwardontics also uses devices, it works to avoid malocclusion by training people to counter the malign effects associated with aspects of our industrialization (soft foods, spoon feeding, bad body postures, hanging mouth open, etc.) by adopting a healthy oral posture, chewing more thoroughly, reducing nasal congestion, and so on. It works to return the growth pattern of the face to the evolutionary path of our ancestral past.

The Forwardontics choice treatment approach is orthotropics, developed by British surgeon and orthodontist John Mew. In the 1970s, after much experience treating malocclusion and observing how children grow, Mew came up with what he termed the “tropic premise,” (the word tropic referring to growth in response to a stimulus). The tropic premise describes the ideal oral position as “tongue resting on the palate, the lips sealed, and the teeth in light contact for between four and eight hours a day.”