282 years of orthodontic history

Address for correspondence: J. PHILIPPE, 6, rue Chanzy, 28000 Chartres. julien.philippe28@wanadoo.fr

Abstract

Orthodontics has been developing for 282 years. We can distinguish an initial period when practitioners limited themselves to “straightening” teeth that were out of position. Then, under the influence of Edward Hartley Angle, they devoted their efforts to correcting “malocclusions.” Now, during its third period, orthodontics has divided itself into two branches. The American school believes the shape and size of basal bone is genetically determined and that treatment should be limited to the dentition, which must be positioned in conformity to precisely defined standards. But the European school is persuaded that basal bone can be modeled by the play of functional forces, which treatment can change and thereby adjust growth and development. What will be the guiding principle of the orthodontics of tomorrow ?