American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics : official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics
-
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop · Feb 2005
Historical ArticleOrthodontics in 3 millennia. Chapter 1: Antiquity to the mid-19th century.
Orthodontics had its beginnings in the time of the ancient Egyptians, who used crude metal bands and catgut, but it was not until the late 18th century that the first practical appliances came into use. These were fine-tuned during the early 1900s; today's mechanisms are merely refinements. ⋯ The purpose of this article is to review the history of orthodontics from antiquity to the modern era. The article is divided into chapters that will be presented serially in every other issue of the Journal.