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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – You don’t have to look around too carefully to see that we don’t exactly live in a perfect world, but that doesn’t stop us trying to improve things, including the look of our teeth.
The desire for straight teeth is not a modern phenomenon, in fact you can work your way back to ancient times and well before any extreme makeovers programs ever existed, to find examples of mummified remains with primitive metal bands wrapped around their teeth.
The desire for straight teeth
Between 400 and 500 BC, the likes of Aristotle and Hippocrates were both pondering ways of straightening teeth, but despite find a tomb in Egypt that found evidence of teeth bound by gold wire, it took a very long time before significant improvements and treatments were developed.
Orthodontist’s like Dr Joseph T. Hung, used very modern methods to improve and straighten our teeth including the use of braces, and we should all be thankful that technology and materials have evolved dramatically since those early days in our history.
President George Washington famously wore wooden teeth and before that before that, a French dentist to the king, known as Ettienne Bourdet, developed the Bandeau, which is a very early example of a brace. He is also the first recorded dentist to suggest the extraction of premolars in order to combat any teeth overcrowding and also the first one to provide scientific evidence of jaw growth.
The desire for straight teeth is not just for cosmetic purposes, as correcting misaligned teeth can prevent patients from experiencing continual periodontal problems throughout their life. These early pioneers of dentistry helped to pave the way for a better understanding and level of treatment to deal with these problems.
Before braces
It wasn’t until the early 1800’s that braces as we know them today, were invented. Prior to this point in history, various methods of teeth straightening were employed, and these varied between different cultures around the world.
It is good to get an understanding of the fascinating history relating to dental procedures and in some ways the history of orthodontic devices and the methods used before braces became actually known as braces, helps to remove a level of anxiety and fear that some patients experience, when they don’t have an understanding of what braces do and what they can do for your teeth in general.
Metal mouths
There were a number of different materials used for the braces that filled our mouths in the early 1900’s and gold, platinum, silver and steel, as well as zinc, copper and brass were also used.
Gold was the most popular material as it is very malleable and therefore easy to shape, but the cost was prohibitive and because it was so soft, it also meant that regular adjustments had to be made. Between 14 and 18 karat gold was regularly used for the wires, clasps, bands and ligatures, as well as iridium-platinum bands and arch wires.
The original metal mouths were definitely an investment when you consider the cost of materials used and the same extensive use of gold and silver today, would definitely call for some hefty sums of money to be handed over.
Direct bonding
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that we were able to move away from metal braces wrapped around the teeth.
Direct bonding was the reason for change, and it was only then that the adhesive was considered strong enough for the old-style metal braces to lose their popularity and bonded brackets came to prominence.
Invisible braces
Things have moved on so much since the early days of braces and thanks to technological advances as well as the use of plastic, invisible braces became a reality.
Placing the braces on the inside surfaces of the teeth meant that patients could have their teeth straightened without anyone even knowing that they were wearing braces at all. It has also opened up various options for patients of differing ages, with tooth-colored or brightly colored braces becoming available, so that there is a choice based on aesthetics as well as dental requirements.
Future developments
We have already come a very long way when it comes to orthodontic treatments and our understanding of what works and why it is important to straighten our teeth.
There is a technique known as Invisalign that involves moves teeth towards a predetermined result using a sequence of relatively simple plastic aligner trays to make minor adjustments each time, using 3-D computer imaging system to track progress.
Other similar methods have since been developed and no doubt, technology will evolve again in order to keep pace with our desire and need to have straighter teeth.
Joseph T. Hung, DMD, MMSc, is a longtime orthodontist in New York. When he’s not at his practice, he likes to help people by researching and reporting on the latest dental trends and news. Look for his informative posts in Facebook and Twitter.
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