EDITORIAL

A pictorial history of orthodontics, 1915-2014

Rolf G. Behrents, Editor-in-Chief
St Louis, Mo

s part of the Centennial Celebration of the AJODO, approximately 2500 images published in
the Journal between 1915 and 2001 have now
been identied, scanned, and cataloged. These images
are indicative of the issues pertinent to the rich history
of orthodontics, as seen in the Journal.
These images were collected so that they could be
used in 2 video projects.
The rst video, which we previewed at the AJO-DO
booth during the Annual Session, features company advertisements that appeared in the Journal during the last
100 years and shows the advances made in orthodontic
technology and services. It is presented chronologically,
without narration but accompanied by period music. In
addition to its historical meaning, this effort is intended
to salute the companies that have supported the development of the specialty of orthodontics over the past
century. Readers have already seen some of the nostalgia
advertisements, tucked away in the white spaces at the
end of some articles published this year; these old advertisements were chosen based on interest and because the
companies promoted in the ads are no longer in business. In addition, we ran facing page advertisements
in the Supplements published this year. Some of our current advertisers have been supporting the Journal with
their ads for 30, 40, or 50 years or more, and we were
able to match up a few of our current advertisers with
ads they ran in the past.
This company advertisement video is now available
on the AJO-DO Web site and through the AAO library
Web site. When you view it, you will want to keep several
things in mind. First, this is not an exhaustive catalog of
every advertisement that ever ran in the Journal. In fact,
some old ads were purposely excluded from our
nostalgia ad program and video. This was not an attempt
to sanitize our history, but rather reects changes in policy, law, and sensitivities that have evolved over time. For
example, one advertisement we chose not to use showed
the famous actress Jean Harlow touting the benets of
smoking a certain brand of cigarettes. Another showed

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a person smoking a cigarette while contemplating

whether to buy United States Savings Bonds. Under current AJO-DO policy, no advertisements can be shown
that involve tobacco products.
Furthermore, a few advertisements featured symbols
or content that would be objectionable to some, or even
unacceptable. For example, one ad featured a Confederate ag and sword. Another showed people in blackface.
A few ads included a symbol that resembled a swastika
(in fact it was not a swastika, but that does not really
matter). Finally, although an ad showing a secretary
sitting on the boss's lap might have been considered
funny at one time, it is not funny today. For perspective,
though, of the approximately 1400 scanned advertisements collected over 100 years, fewer than 10 were
placed in the do not use le.
The second video is still in production. It focuses on
Advancements of Orthodontics over the years. Again,
images scanned from the pages of the Journal are
featured, but in this case they are not advertisements.
This video will be themed so that it can be separated
into clips devoted to different topics. In some instances, great strides in treatment will be seen (eg,
treatment of Class III malocclusion), whereas in others
little progress will be noted (eg, airway). Perhaps the
most interesting segment will be The history of the
world as reected in the Journal. This segment will
show how wars, epidemics, dental politics, and government regulations all have fashioned our history and our
future in many ways.
This video might also be notable for a few exclusions.
Derogatory language occasionally found its way into the
Journal, but it will not make it into the video; neither
will a few brief moments of brilliant craziness, because
trying to explain them would cause the viewer to miss
the message. As an example, a story was once told of a
speaker who presented research that involved orthodontic treatment on monkeys and their subsequent sacrice
and histologic study. Once concluded, a member of the
audience rose to say that he believed that such research
would be better conducted using poor children instead
of monkeys.
What will you see in the video? Consider the gures
reproduced here. Figure 1 comes from an article in
1931 that posed the question, Should a dentist wear
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Fig 1. A mask for the dentist was proposed in 1931 to

solve the vexing problem of onions, tobacco, and alcoholic drinks that might have been consumed by the patient or the doctor just before the appointment.1

a mask? The author (Mellinger1) believed in the afrmative but only because of the context of the time: a
mask should be worn because of onions, tobacco, and
alcoholic drinks that might have been consumed by
the patient or the doctor just before the appointment.
Figure 2 shows a jaw vibrator, which the author (Silverman2) argued should not be used for its intended purpose at the timeby applying abrasive paste on the
occlusal surfaces of the teeth and applying the vibrator,
the practitioner would grind in the occlusion. Of
course, some Begg practitioners thought that this treatment was benecial indeed. Figure 3 is the most oftenused gure in the history of the Journal. It is from the
Bolton study of Case Western Reserve University based
on work conducted by B. Holly Broadbent, Sr. Any
author who wrote about growth and development in
the 1930s through 1950s seemed to need this gure or
one of its variations.3 Finally, in Figure 4, the author
(Spahn4) suggested that the etiology and treatment of
malocclusion has something to do with the position of
the body and the intestines.
Why are these videos being produced as a pictorial
history of orthodontics? The story of orthodontics is
an extraordinary evolving tale that involves dates, people, and events and includes examples of dedication,
hard work, integrity, sacrice, compassion, critical
thinking, inspiration, experimentation, and discovery,
along with some wishful thinking and follies. But
most of all, the story of orthodontics includes tales
of millions of successful treatments. The young orthodontists of 2015 might think that everything in orthodontics was created just for them . . . just yesterday . . .

September 2015  Vol 148  Issue 3

Fig 2. Chin vibrator method.2

but that is not the case. Our present specialty is based

on the accomplishments of our predecessors, including
our great teachers, researchers, leaders, and clinicians.
Unfortunately, the young orthodontists of today
cannot meet and learn from many of those great people directly. Through a history such as this, they can go
back in time and understand and appreciate what has
been learned before, what ideas and techniques have
been adopted or discarded, and how such knowledge
can be applied in the future to improve orthodontics
even more. Challenge and opportunity are always
ahead, and it is to everyone's advantage to build on
what is known and not to repeat the misadventures
and mistakes of the past. Therein lies the responsibility
of the young orthodontists of today, for as the next
100 years unfold, it will be important for them to
become the great teachers, researchers, leaders, and clinicians for the next generation of orthodontists and
their patients.
Why portray our history in pictures? See the quote.
Rolf G. Behrents
A picture may instantly present what a book could set
forth only in a hundred pages.
From the 1862 novel, Fathers and Sons,
by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Russian
novelist, short story writer, and playwright,
1818-1883).

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Fig 3. This illustration of normal developmental growth of the face was widely reproduced in journal
articles.3

Fig 4. Colon and small intestine 6 hours after a meal: A, normally situated; B, with the patient reversed
(doing a headstand).4 Could the etiology of malocclusion be explained by the position of the body and
the intestines?
REFERENCES
1. Mellinger HV. Should a dentist wear a mask? Am J Orthod Oral Surg
1931;17:578-80.
2. Silverman MM. Equilibration of the natural dentition following orthodontic treatment to prevent movements of teeth and other problems. Am J Orthod Oral Surg 1968;54:831-60.

3. Applebaum E. Integration of anatomic and cephalometric

studies of the growth of the head. Am J Orthod Oral Surg
1953;39:612-22.
4. Spahn CA. Treatment of neutroclusion. Am J Orthod Oral Surg
1934;20:627-38.

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September 2015  Vol 148  Issue 3