Reading is always an excitement and a pleasure. However, as with any pleasurable activities reading requires some protective measures…

I was twice affected by unsafe reading. First, in my very early twenties by reading modern French philosophers: it took me a while to realize that they all were irrevocably mad. Then, aged 24-25 at my orthodontic residency in Moscow I was trying to go through Russian translations of orthodontic textbooks. I am still not sure who sounds more insane: Jacques Derrida or Bill Proffit translated into Russian…

Both of these experiences were a complete waste of time. Moreover, in the case with orthodontic translations this could have become potentially dangerous for others. I clearly remember a moment when five years ago I decided to stop once and for all reading any orthodontic texts in Russian.

Of course, it is naive to think that orthodontic literature written in the English language doesn’t contain nonsense. There are plenty of dubious orthodontic reads in English as well. Fortunately, some protective measures are also at hand.

High-quality journals

I first came across good orthodontic journals in 2015 when I travelled to London to the 8th International Orthodontic Congress. I remember how I went utterly spellbound before an AJO-DO stand. I picked up as many journals as I could afford carrying and had been scrutinizing them for the next several months at home. Soon after, I found other orthodontic journals. Many of them also turned to be of high quality.

The most pragmatic approach to assess the quality of a journal is simply to check how many research papers have been published in it. This scheme by Bill Shaw can help you with this task:

This shows the number of RCTs published annually from 1979 to 2009 in four major orthodontic journals:

AJO-DO: The American Journal of Orthodontics

ANGLE: The Angle Orthodontist

(B)JO: The Journal of Orthodontics

EJO: The European Orthodontic Journal

Unfortunately, we don’t have more recent statistics, but you can get an idea even from this slightly outdated graph.

Most of the journals listed above are mainly academic reads. For more clinical content I can recommend the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics. And if you are a young specialist with limited budget please note that the Angle Orthodontist and another good journal, Progress in Orthodontics, are the only journals that have no paywall.

Books

I love books over journals. They often contain more structured knowledge which makes them more useful. Personally, I like books that are dedicated to some particular orthodontic issue and provide clear guidances. I also like books that are written by one or two authors. This makes them cohesive and more interesting to read.

Recently, I have started my YouTube channel dedicated to orthodontic books. I plan to publish reviews once a week. I think that the dissemination of good orthodontic literature today is a vital necessity. We have too much nonsense splashing around in our digital world of instant audio-visual gratification. Isn’t it a perfect time to fight back with good old paperback folios?