The Journal 60 years ago: Vertical springs in 1915
M
ost orthodontists consider vertical springs and loops to be a relatively recent development in appliance design. Many of them will be surprised to learn that the principles and usage of vertical loops were described by Ray D. Robinson in the October, 1915, issue of the INTERNATIONAL ?JOURSAL OF ORTHODONTIA, as the AMERICAN ?JOURNAL OF ORTHODONTICS was then known. The pertinent paragraphs and illustrations are republished below in this month’s The Journd 60 Years &o feature column : “Except the force of gravity, there is probably no force in nature so constant in its operation as that of a coiled spring, as even as the pressure of the atmosphere varies with the temperature, the elevation above or below sea level, ct,c. The coiled spring, in season and out, always works and never varies. Closely allied to the coiled spring is the looped spring. It has all the advantages of the coiled spring, and has the further advantage that it lies in a flat plane. Tt is this force which we are to consider today. “The appliance presented here depends on a non-rigid arch formed into the shape of the ideal dental arch, which is so flexible as to permit of its being bent into the form of the dental arch, with the t,eeth in malocclusion, and so resilient, by virtue of its composition and the loops into which it is formed, that it will return to its original form of an ideal dental arch and carry the teeth with it. The greatest feature of the appliance is that by virtue of the loops into which the wire is bent, it is capable of exerting force over a long period of time, and is capable of moving a tooth relatively great distance without being tightened, or at any time exerting more than a very little force.” Dr. R,obinson was an early advocate of light wires and light continuous force. He wrote that a “wire when small enough to serve properly for root control, is not strong enough to expand properly it mature dental arch without the use of loops. ” He also wrote that. “it will be argued that so small a wire will not produce enough force to move the teeth in a mature jaw, or expand an arch. The answer to that argument is that it does not require much force to do anything necessary in the moving of teeth, if that force be continuous over a long period of time. 430
Volume Number
68 4
Fig. 1. Illustrations System of Positive predecessor to the
Journal
60 years ago
of vertical springs as advocated in 1915 by Ray and Painless Tooth Movement, International Journal American Journal of Orthodontics 1: 497-509, 1915.)
D. of
Robinson. Orthodontics,
431
(A
The arch as described is a looped spring and the essayist will show you proof that it will continue its pressure over a period of four months without tightening, and that it will expand an arch, and that it will move teeth in an adult jaw, and move them so gently, slowly and steadily as not to produce even the slightest soreness, and that when they are so moved they require but a minimum of retention.” B.P.D.
M
ost orthodontists consider vertical springs and loops to be a relatively recent development in appliance design. Many of them will be surprised to learn that the principles and usage of vertical loops were described by Ray D. Robinson in the October, 1915, issue of the INTERNATIONAL ?JOURSAL OF ORTHODONTIA, as the AMERICAN ?JOURNAL OF ORTHODONTICS was then known. The pertinent paragraphs and illustrations are republished below in this month’s The Journd 60 Years &o feature column : “Except the force of gravity, there is probably no force in nature so constant in its operation as that of a coiled spring, as even as the pressure of the atmosphere varies with the temperature, the elevation above or below sea level, ct,c. The coiled spring, in season and out, always works and never varies. Closely allied to the coiled spring is the looped spring. It has all the advantages of the coiled spring, and has the further advantage that it lies in a flat plane. Tt is this force which we are to consider today. “The appliance presented here depends on a non-rigid arch formed into the shape of the ideal dental arch, which is so flexible as to permit of its being bent into the form of the dental arch, with the t,eeth in malocclusion, and so resilient, by virtue of its composition and the loops into which it is formed, that it will return to its original form of an ideal dental arch and carry the teeth with it. The greatest feature of the appliance is that by virtue of the loops into which the wire is bent, it is capable of exerting force over a long period of time, and is capable of moving a tooth relatively great distance without being tightened, or at any time exerting more than a very little force.” Dr. R,obinson was an early advocate of light wires and light continuous force. He wrote that a “wire when small enough to serve properly for root control, is not strong enough to expand properly it mature dental arch without the use of loops. ” He also wrote that. “it will be argued that so small a wire will not produce enough force to move the teeth in a mature jaw, or expand an arch. The answer to that argument is that it does not require much force to do anything necessary in the moving of teeth, if that force be continuous over a long period of time. 430
Volume Number
68 4
Fig. 1. Illustrations System of Positive predecessor to the
Journal
60 years ago
of vertical springs as advocated in 1915 by Ray and Painless Tooth Movement, International Journal American Journal of Orthodontics 1: 497-509, 1915.)
D. of
Robinson. Orthodontics,
431
(A
The arch as described is a looped spring and the essayist will show you proof that it will continue its pressure over a period of four months without tightening, and that it will expand an arch, and that it will move teeth in an adult jaw, and move them so gently, slowly and steadily as not to produce even the slightest soreness, and that when they are so moved they require but a minimum of retention.” B.P.D.
