The Right Angle For Your Teeth

OrthadonticsEven if you have never worn them yourself, everybody knows exactly what is meant by a “brace” or “braces” when it comes to cosmetic dentistry. Some countries have a higher usage rate than others, but chances are that if you went to school any time in the last 40 years that you will have had a friend who had to wear a brace. Back in those days most braces were obvious and ugly, often requiring a head strap or even face mask to be worn to apply the required pressures to the teeth and jaw.

Nowadays these obvious and demoralising rigs are rarely seen, and there are even some orthodontic systems available, such as Invisalign, that are subtle enough to go unnoticed by all but the keenest eyed observer. Realignment of teeth or bite will almost always have to be done by brute force alone, but the existence of such unobtrusive options as Invisalign compared to what was available 40 years ago is testament to how far this field of medicine has come.

People have been trying pseudo-medical methods to straighten teeth probably for as long as they have been combing their hair, but the modern field of orthodontics didn’t really come in to being until towards the end of the 19th Century, with the first school of orthodontics being founded by Englishman Edward H Angle in 1901. In fact the classification system laid out in Angle’s “Treatment of Malocclusion of the Teeth” was used worldwide and still forms the basis of the field today.

Modern orthodontists have a much better understanding of hygiene and infection control than they did in Angle’s day, but it his testament to his intellect and methodology that so much of his original teachings remain.

Posted in: Cosmetic Dentistry, Invisalign, Orthodontics, Orthodontist, braces
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| February 19, 2010 at 11:55 am | No comment

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