The Queens Diamond Jubilee & 60 years of Orthodontics

1950s – stainless steel replaced gold as the material of choice

1960s – an Australian Orthodontist, Begg, proposes that 4 teeth need routinely extracting. His research on Aboriginals who have no crowding proposed that we extract 4 teeth to mimic tooth wear. This started a generation of extraction therapy.

1970s – Braces wrapped right around the teeth with bands as the technology to glue them in place was not very reliable (see photo).

1980s – NASA developed ‘nickel-titanium’ wires. These wires are floppy until they reach body temperature. They move teeth with low constant forces- a massive improvement on the previous steel (& gold) wires

1990s – Self ligating braces launched. A trap door replaces the high friction elastic ‘bungees’ that keep the wire in the bracket making treatment faster more comfortable and allowing more cases to be treated non-extraction

2000 – Invisalign Launched by 2 MBA graduates – a God-send for anyone wanting Orthodontics but not wanting a brace on show.