The orthodontic profession has been nonchalantly sailing along thinking that all is well. Its members have been complacently complimenting themselves and thinking that we are making wonderful progress, when suddenly we run into a disturbing crisis which is yet unsolved, and there appears to be no apparent interest in solving this problem. This is an indictment on the entire discipline.

In 1972 in the AJODO Dr. Arne Bjork reported some extensive research involving placing metal implants into the bone of the jaws and then taking serial cephalometric radiograms over a long period of time. He selected the period from age 10 to 16 years and reported the complexities of growth of the jaws during this period. This was a tremendous contribution to our knowledge of the growth of the jaws, and we owe Dr. Bjork a debt of gratitude. This work was widely accepted worldwide. In February, 1996, Fred Schudy made an in-depth study of Dr. Bjork's published research and pointed out where he thought that Dr. Bjork had made an incorrect interpretation. This study was published in the February, 1996 issue of the AJODO. It is becoming crystal clear that this difference of opinion is indeed a major obstacle to real progress, and that it must be solved. In my humble opinion, the only solution is to restudy the excellent research of the wonderful visionary scientist, the late Dr. Arne Bjork.

The restudy must be based on completely stable landmarks. The vertical and horizontal measurements must be measured parallel and perpendicular to Frankfort. Vertical measurement will need to be measured from "sella horizontal" to produce a fiducial landmark, and horizontal measurements will need to be measured from the "great divide."

"Sella Horizontal" is a line through sella tercica parallel to Frankfort, and the "Great Divide" is a line from sella downward perpendicular to Frankfort. (The original Frankfort line would be transferred to all subsequent films.) The lines are the most stable landmarks that can be found in the human head. Please see Article 24 of the Schudy Chronicles on the Internet.
Web – http://www.vxbw.com/~schudyf
e-mail – schudyf@hal-pc.org

True, porion and the lower border of the orbit do not always grow downward from SN at the same rate; but by transferring the original Frankfort line to all subsequent films of a series we can establish a stable landmark. We should stop "nit picking" the stability of SN and Frankfort and be satisfied that sella horizontal and the great divide are the most stable landmarks to be found in the human head.

This proposed restudy will be very expensive and require considerable time. The details would entail careful planning. I know of no better place for the American Association of Orthodontics Foundation to spend some of its accrued interest. Our members in the academic world should feel a responsibility to respond to such a study. This is one of their primary functions. The clinical orthodontist (low man on the totem pole) should not feel responsible for such a study; however, he is probably most capable of accurately interpreting the results.

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