A brief history of orthodontics - ortodontia e ortopedia facial

In 1860 Emerson C. Angell (1823 to 1903) was probably the first person to advocate the
opening of the median suture to provide space in the maxillary arch, since he took a strong
stand against extraction. 20 James D. White also perfected a removable vulcanite appliance with
a hinge in a split palate (1860). 21
O. A. Marvin (1828 to 1907), in 1866, outlined the objectives of orthodontic treatment:
1st: the preservation of correct facial expression;
2nd: the restoration of such expression;
3rd: the proper articulation of the teeth for better mastication;
4th: their orderly arrangement, with a view to preventing decay. 1
As early as 1871 William E. Magill (1825 to 1896) had cemented bands on the teeth. 22
It may be of interest to know that in 1864 George J. Underwood 23 of New York presented his
graduation thesis at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery (Philadelphia)
entitled“Orthodontia.”
American orthodontics, 1875 to 1900 TOP
It was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century when a few dedicated dentists gave
special attention and importance to this phase of dentistry, that our specialty began to emerge.
Known in that time as orthodontia, it required special mechanical skills and knowledge in such
basic sciences as anatomy, physiology, and pathology.
The period of the last three decades of the nineteenth century is studied in the framework of
individual dentists and their contributions. Each practitioner developed his own theory and
practice, some to a greater degree of excellence than others. Those to be discussed briefly
include John H. Farrar (1839 to 1913); Norman W. Kingsley (1829 to 1913); Alton H. Thompson
(1849 to 1914); Issac B. Davenport (1854 to 1922); Henry A. Baker (1848 to 1934); Eugene S.
Talbot (1847 to 1925); simeon H. Guilford (1841 to 1919); and W. G. A. Bonwill (1833 to 1899).
John Farrar could be referred to as the Father of American Orthodontics. It was he who gave
impetus to the scientific investigations that permitted the understanding of the theory and
practice of orthodontics. He began his studies in 1875, during which time he investigated the
physiologic and pathologic changes occurring in animals as the result of orthodontically induced
tooth movement. As a result of his studies, he published a series of articles between 1881 and
1887 in the Dental Cosmos, one of the leading dental journals, enunciating the principle that “in
regulating teeth, the traction must be intermittent and must not exceed certain fixed limits.” 4 He
also published Irregularities of the Teeth and Their Correction, Vol. 1 in 1888 and Vol. 2 in 1889,
in which he demonstrated the many uses of the screw as the motivating attachment and the
basis of what he referred to as a system of orthodontia. (Copies of these books are in the
American Association of Orthodontists library in St. Louis, Mo.) (The jackscrew was originally
introduced in 1849 by D. William Dwinelle. 24 ) He stressed the “importance of the observance of
the physiologic law which governs tissues, during movement of the teeth, the subject being to
prevent pain.” 1 Farrar was the originator of the theory of intermittent force, and the first person
to recommend root or bodily movement of the teeth.
Norman W. Kingsley was a prominent dentist, artist, and orthodontist. As early as 1866, he
experimented with appliances for the correction of cleft palate and is associated with a
technique known as jumping the bite with the use of a bite plate. 25 It was the treatment for
protrusion of the maxilla, not necessarily with extractions, shaping the dental arches to be in
harmony with each other. He used vulcanite in conjunction with ligatures, elastic bands made of
rubber, jackscrews, and the chincap. In 1880 he published A Treatise on Oral Deformities,
which remained a textbook for many years. He, too, emphasized the importance of the
relationship between mechanics and biology as the principle on which orthodontics should be
based. His book was the first to recommend that etiology, diagnosis, and treatment planning