Dr. Eric Rouah & Associates of 5000 Yonge Dental offer the best in dental technology, including Invisalign braces, and a friendly, knowledgeable staff.

1. The History of Orthodontic Braces

2. It isn’t too uncommon to see people of all ages sporting a set of orthodontic braces.
Orthodontics is a specialty of dentistry that focuses on improper bites, known as
malocclusions. A patient may require braces for a number of different reasons, including
dental displacement or for purely aesthetic reasons. Even though they may seem like a
relatively new phenomenon, orthodontic braces have a long history.
In the Beginning
Braces have been around for a long, long time. The American Association of
Orthodontists has reported that ancient mummified remains have been found by
archeologists, complete with metal bands wrapped around the teeth. It only stands to
reason that crooked teeth and improper bites aren’t a development of modern society, and
that the physicians of ancient times may have tried fixing crooked smiles, too. Records
even exist showing that Hippocrates and Aristotle were concerned with straightening
teeth, way back in 400 to 500 BC.
Evidence also exists to suggest the Etruscans, which were the people who came before
the Romans, buried some of their citizens wearing dental appliances. A researcher even
found several teeth that were bound in gold wire in a Roman tomb in Egypt. Although
these events show that orthodontics was likely being practiced for at least a couple
thousand years, it wasn’t really until the 1700’s that it really started to take off.
Orthodontics
Perhaps the first move to popularize orthodontics was by French dentist Pierre Fauchard,
with his 1728 book ‘The Surgeon Dentist.’ Inside this book, he included a whole chapter
based on how to straighten teeth. Back in those days, Fauchard used a horseshoe-shaped
piece of metal known as a ‘Blandeau’ to do the straightening. Another book called ‘The
Dentist’s Art’ written in 1757 by French dentist Ettienne Bourdet also described the
tooth-alignment process. Bourdet was the King of France’s dentist, and worked to
further perfect the Blandeau.
The first documented article on orthodontics was written by dentist Norman W. Kingsley
in 1858. In 1880, Kingsley published a book entitled, ‘Treatise on Oral Deformities.’ A
dentist named J. N. Farrar also wrote a couple volumes that dealt with correcting crooked
teeth, and was the first to try using mild force at specifically timed intervals to move
teeth.
In the early 1900s, an American named Edward Angle came up with the first
classification system for malocclusions that’s still in use today. Angle’s system helped
dentists describe just how crooked teeth were, which way they were pointing and how
they fit together. Angle also helped simplify the orthodontic appliances themselves, as
well as founding the first college of orthodontics and the American Society of
Orthodontia, which later became the American Association of Orthodontists. The very

3. first orthodontics textbook designed for students was published in the 1889 by J.J.
Guilford.
First Metal Braces
When many people think of
braces, they envision the shiny,
silver, train track style braces that
have been popular for that past
several decades. And while this
style of braces may seem
cumbersome to some people, it
used to be a lot worse.
Way back in the early 1900s, an
orthodontist might use gold,
platinum, silver, steel, copper,
brass, gum rubber or even wood to
get the job done. These materials
were used to form loops and hooks and ligatures designed to make braces. Gold was
often used for the wires, bands and clasps back in the early days. Gold was easy to
shape, which was a benefit, but that same softness required frequent adjustments, not to
mention the fact that gold costs a lot of money. But back at the beginning, it was real
gold and real silver that was wrapped around each tooth to create metal braces.
Metal braces continued to wrap around teeth in this fashion until the middle of the 1970s,
when the bonded bracket took its place. The bonded bracket was actually invented
earlier, but the adhesive had yet to be mastered. Once the adhesive was good to go, the
metal braces that so many people are familiar with from the 1970s and 1980s started to
take off. It was never a secret that many patients didn’t like how they looked, but they
usually did a great job, so it was best to suffer in silence.
Eventually, the silver train track look was replaced by prettier colors like red, green or
blue. The braces still worked with the bonded bracket and wire set up, but both brackets
and wires were available in different colors to help cut down on the ‘metal mouth’ kind
of look.
For some patients who didn’t need full-on braces, retainers were often used as a an
alternative. A retainer consists of a wire attached to a plate that fits up into the roof of
your mouth when you sleep. Retainers were sometimes worn instead of full braces or as
follow up treatment after the braces had done they’re job. Retainers were often preferred
because no one really had to know that they were being worn at all.
Invisalign Braces

4. Invisalign braces took the ‘no one needs to know’ concept of
braces even farther. Invisalign braces straighten the teeth
like any metal braces, but it does so in a much more discreet
and non-invasive fashion.
The Invisalign system uses clear, custom molded aligners
that are removable. The aligners move your teeth little by
little, and are changed every two weeks or so. Most
treatments use up to 24 aligners and takes from five to 12
months.
Patients seem to like Invisalign braces because they can be
removed for teeth cleaning or special professional or social
occasions. And even if they are left in, many people won’t
even notice that you’re wearing anything. One of the big
complaints among people who wear braces, is the train track
look that metal braces creates. Basically, once they’re on,
there is no escape until your treatment is finished.
With technologies like Invisalign braces, you can get all the
benefits of a standard pair of braces, without any of the
standard annoyances.

5. Dr. Eric Rouah & Associates of 5000 Yonge Dental offer the best in dental technology,
including Invisalign braces, and a friendly, knowledgeable staff