On December 1, 1887 the first story about the fictional but historically famous British sleuth Sherlock Holmes was published. The story was “A Study in Scarlet” and first appeared in “Beeton’s Christmas Annual” capturing front page space. The work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is well known in popular fiction, television and cinema. But the man behind the man is a little less familiar.
As a medical student, Doyle was offered a position as a ship’s doctor and had the opportunity to travel to the Arctic. Throughout his travels and during his studies, Doyle was publishing short stories to make a little extra money. Although he did work as a doctor both off and on board ship, Doyle encountered many circumstances that left him poor and dissatisfied.
Orthodontic braces are a common fixture in today’s society and it is not rare to see classmates, coworkers, or family members with braces on their teeth. Both children and adults are often seen wearing braces and there are a wide variety of colors available to allow individual customization of them. Although braces are an everyday part of our culture, little is known about their development or origin. In ancient Greece both scholars Hippocrates and Aristotle talked about ways to fix dentals problems including the straightening of crooked teeth. There are a few men who history considers the fathers of orthodontics and they developed their ideas in the late 19th century. The first individual is Norman Kingsley who was a writer, artist, and sculptor but was primarily a dentist. In 1880 he wrote “Treatise on Oral Deformities” which was a major influence on dentistry.
Another man deserving credit is Doctor J.N. Farrar who developed the idea of using intermittent mild force to correct dental irregularities in the 1880s. He wrote a couple of books that dealt with his ideas on correcting orthodontic problems. His scientific approach to the biological issues of orthodontics was revolutionary.
Edward Angle, an American dentist from Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century is widely considered the creator of modern orthodontics and his system of classifying dental arches is used all over the world. In 1887 he wrote “Treatment of Malocclusion of the Teeth”. This volume was revised and republished several times and is the cornerstone of modern orthodontics. Angle served as a professor at a couple of medical colleges and in 1900 founded The School of Orthodontia in St. Louis, Missouri. He developed different types of fixed orthodontic appliances that have evolved into the braces and retainers that we are familiar with today. The sophisticated orthodontic systems used currently by most doctors are the result of improvements in technology and owe their development to the pioneering efforts of a few men. The smiles of millions are the result of these efforts.
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