2975 Westchester Avenue Suite G02 Purchase, NY 10577
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
914-251-0313 www.oralsurgeryofwestchester.com
INSIDE This Issue
PG 1
Learn From the Best
PG 2
A Natural Sweetener With Real Health Benefits Our Patients Say It Best
PG 3
Can Virtual Reality Create Better Surgeons?
Spicy Chimichurri Grilled Cheese
PG 4
History of the Perfect Smile
Mummies and Metal Mouths Braces: FromAncient Egypt to Today
People have always been on the hunt for the perfect smile. While the advanced methods of orthodontics, specifically braces, seem like a modern invention, people have been experimenting with ways to straighten their teeth since ancient Egypt. Archaeologists have uncovered Egyptian mummies with bands made of catgut wrapped around their teeth. Some of the writings from both Hippocrates and Aristotle, dating back to around 400–300 BCE, contain notes of methods used to straighten crooked teeth and cure dental conditions. The Etruscans buried their dead with gold bands around their teeth, and later the Romans used wires made of gold and ligature to force their teeth into a desirable position. The dark ages knocked orthodontics out of the spotlight for a few hundred years until the 1700s. In France, dentist Pierre Fauchard published “The Surgeon Dentist” in 1728. In his book, Fauchard described a horseshoe- shaped piece of metal called a bandeau, which could expand the arch of a person’s mouth. There’s a good chance the bandeau was actually a torture device, but it became very popular in France.
dentists learned more about human teeth, the material with which braces were made varied between practices. Gold, platinum, silver, steel, gum rubber, and vulcanite were commonly used, though some orthodontists relied on ivory, zinc, copper, brass, and even wood. Stainless steel wouldn’t become the norm until the 1950s. Braces as we recognize them today began appearing in patients’ mouths in the 1970s. With the introduction of dental adhesives, orthodontists no longer needed to wrap wires around each individual tooth. Instead, they were able to attach brackets directly onto a patient’s teeth and keep them in place with tie wires and elastic ligatures. Today, there are many paths toward a perfect smile. Metal braces are joined by ceramic braces, lingual braces, self-ligating braces, and plastic aligners like Invisalign. No matter the level of orthodontic treatment needed, there’s a braces option for every patient.
In 1819, Christophe-Francois Delabarre created the wire crib, signaling the beginning of modern orthodontics. Over the next century, as
4
www.oralsurgeryofwestchester.com
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online