Whither orthodontics?

Abstract

What is the destiny, the future, for orthodontics and its specialists? It is disappointing that industry is leading our thinking these days. Much of our professional life centers around the device- and machine-based techniques, claims, and marketing of manufacturers. When did our passive role as followers happen and why? We may begin to reclaim control of our specialty by revising some aspects of our training programs and journal formats. Meanwhile, we may go back several decades in the literature and find useful insights from clinical sages-applied scientists-who were clearheaded, truthful, and science-based observers, writing before the industrial manipulation and noise we now have to compete with.