Journey from Ancient to Modern
Dental braces, or properly called orthodontic braces, today are the very modern appliances used to straighten misaligned teeth. However, braces are not modern times discovery but were actually in existence in ancient history. Dental appliances were found among the Etruscans, an old civilization in Italy, who buried their dead with braces made of metal bands to preserve the teeth during the afterlife. This appeared to be the earliest known braces.
Hippocrates and Aristotle wrote between 400 BC and 300 BC about ways to straighten teeth. At that time, people used catgut, a type of cord made from animal intestines, to close gaps in the teeth which helped with chewing. The Romans attempted orthodontics as well. Skeletal remains had small gold wires bound to the teeth in an effort to force the teeth to move and close off noticeable gaps.
The field of orthodontics began developing in the 18th century. In 1728, famous French dentist, Pierre Fauchard, published “The Surgeon Dentist”, a book in which a whole chapter was dedicated on straightening teeth. A device called a Blandeau, a horseshoe-shaped piece of iron that helped expand the arch was detailed. Dentist to the king of France, Louis Bourdet, in 1757, also wrote about teeth aligning in his own book. He perfected the Blandeau and was the first to recommend extraction of the third molar teeth to to ease crowding and to improve jaw growth.
The wire crib was invented in 1819, gum elastics in 1843, and by this time orthodontics was becoming a separate branch of dentistry. Around 1880, dentist J. N. Farrar wrote two volumes on the irregularities of teeth and about their corrections. He gives an idea to fix teeth by applying mild forces at timed intervals, and thus was born the basis for many future models of braces.
By the 1970s many breakthrough techniques emerged. Most significant was the use of dental adhesive to hold the brackets to the teeth, replacing individual wires. Stainless steel replaced gold and silver, decreasing the cost of treatment and making manipulation easier. The 1970s was also the birth of the invisible braces where they were placed in the inside rather than outside of teeth. It paved the way for the perfection of the invisible braces of the late 1990s. Today we know of it as Invisalign.
Looking Back Where It All Began
Dental braces has come down to us from ancient times proving the importance of straight, well-aligned and functional dentition. Bellevue dental braces are not just corrective, but are aesthetically sound choices for a wide range of patient types. Visit us for a consultation.
Invisalign® and Six Month Smiles®
Dr. Yu offers several alternatives to traditional braces, including Invisalign® and Six Month Smiles®, a revolutionary orthodontic system that offers a
level of convenience and comfort that patients cannot achieve with wire braces.