[The vocation of orthodontics].
For Angle, the goal of orthodontic treatment was to correct malocclusions. Then, the raison d'être seemed to be to restore normality as described through an increasing number of measurements and in seeking an average value. But 95.5% of variations were in fact normal and didn't need to be brought into a normal range. In addition, conforming to average dimensions was not an appealing goal for prospective patients. It is not divergence from the average that justifies treatment; it is instead the disturbances that these divergences engender. What are needed in the future are fewer measurements and more applications of clinical treatment. It is towards this route that the definitions of orthodontics and dento-facial orthopedics adopted by the SFODF direct us.
Philippe
Julien
J
Vieux-Rapporteurs, Chartres, France. julien.philippe28@wanadoo.fr
D003766:Dental Occlusion; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000628:therapy; D009909:Oral Health; D009970:Orthodontics; D010685:Philosophy, Dental; D013284:Stomatognathic System / Q000502:physiology