About two weeks ago, I published the first part of my review on a wonderful new book by David Sarver titled Dentofacial Esthetics: From Macro to Micro. I was then reviewing the first three chapters of the book. Now I am going to look at the following two.

In the beginning of the fourth chapter Dr Sarver points out his adherence to checklists and suggests a reader to take a look at a book by Dr Gawande The Checklist Manifesto. ‘No matter how expert you may be, well-designed checklists can improve outcomes’, states Sarver.

During these two chapters we go through cases in which Sarver shows how he applies checklists to evaluate and then improve smile characteristics of his patients. Very reasonably he points out: ‘The profession of orthodontics has hundreds of cephalometric analyses, but to this point, I know of no orthodontic smile analysis’… Continue reading “Dentofacial Esthetics. Part 2: Aquire a system!” →

Recently, I wrote a blog post and then shot a video ranting about Dr. Lawrence Andrews and the virtues of having a prescription. Now I decided to write a ‘so-what’ blog post trying to answer a question what prescription to use? I’ll keep it short…

 

Continue reading “On prescription again, really brief!” →

Last year, the American Journal of Orthodontics published a white paper which has summarised a long-time debate on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the role of the orthodontist in its management. OSA is a serious health issue, which in its severe forms can become life-threatening.

The paper is written by Rolf G. Behrents, the editor-in-chief of the journal, and a number of medical and dental experts in sleep medicine. This is the paper every orthodontist should read, analyse and come up with his or her own conclusions. Here are mine…

Continue reading “Our extremely modest and immensely valuable knowledge on obstructive sleep apnea” →

About a month ago, I started reading a wonderful new book by David Sarver titled Dentofacial Esthetics: From Macro to Micro. I am still in the middle of it because I can’t break a habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. Nevertheless, I decided to write the first part of a review now and do two more in a few weeks.

David Sarver is an adjunct professor of orthodontics in both the University of North Carolina and the University of Alabama. He runs a private practice in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. He is very well-known throughout orthodontic community as a prolific writer, demanded speaker and the guy who coauthored the most popular orthodontic textbook ever, Contemporary Orthodontics.

Truth to be told, I knew the new book was a masterpiece from the very first moment I received it. The book has a really nice design and the quality of printing is exceptional; the text, which is an outcome of four decades of clinical experience, truly deserves to be garnished this way.

In this part of my review, I will focus on the first three (out of eight) chapters of the book. Continue reading “Dentofacial Esthetics. Part 1: Engagement and Repetition” →

Two years ago, I wrote a letter to the BDJ describing an orthodontic landscape in the former Soviet Union, today I want to revise my text…

Radio Silence

No one knows anything for certain about Russian orthodontics. Some probably have heard about murky self-proclaimed Soviet professors whose manners replicate those of Middle Eastern dictators. Others may have seen online some pictures by young Russian clinicians who seems to be so excited by the fact that teeth can be moved with nitinol wires that they tend to upload every step of the treatment as a single social media post. But what does this really tell us? Unfortunately, the former haven’t published papers in peer-reviewed journals, so we do not know if their claims for their academic titles are justified. Neither of the latter, in turn, have passed a board certification, so it is not clear if their social media accounts represent anything more than decent photography skills.

Continue reading “Is my two-year-old message-in-the-bottle letter on post-communism orthodontics to the BDJ is still relevant?” →

In 1989, a Californian orthodontist, Lawrence F. Andrews, published a book where he accurately described his landmark invention and a concept behind it. I am honoured to have a signed copy of this historic text, which he gifted me four years ago while I was travelling across America. Being an undisciplined reader, I let sit it on the shelf till last Christmas.

The book Straight Wire: The Concept and Appliance tells the story of how a study of 120 casts of naturally optimal occlusion lead to the development of the first preajdusted appliance. It is a carefully written text explaining basic concepts of the straight-wire appliance. It has plenty of beautiful drawings, but from the viewpoint of a clinician the most exciting feature of the book is apparently 200+ photos of before and after dental casts. These are the records from 1960s and 1970s collected by a number of orthodontists. The quality of the results is exceptional.

I decided not to indulge myself into retelling the six keys and straight-wire philosophy, but rather write my own subjective ideas loosely based on the book…

Continue reading “Six thoughts on the six keys to good occlusion” →

Over the past year, I’ve started several dozens surgical cases. It is a specific group of patients requiring special attention.

Today I am going to review an excellent textbook that can become a lifebelt for those who are stepping into the realm of orthognathic surgery. I will also indicate several aspects on presurgical orthodontics that I consider the most critical.

Continue reading “A surgery book” →

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the majority of the world’s population, I’ve spent the past few weeks at home. This made me reflect on my orthodontic path and also on my writings in this blog, which I started 3 years ago. It was initially planned as some sort of a road journal to document the landscape I see around advancing on my way.

In retrospect, I can’t help feeling that the bulk of what I have seen and depicted was not about orthodontics, but rather DIY orthodontics…

Continue reading “My last post on DIY orthodontics” →

Last week, I published a post where I stated that it is important for an orthodontist to know the history of the specialty. I also briefly mentioned board certification, indicating that it is one of the greatest orthodontic traditions.

Today I would like to look closer at several other traditions and traits that have shaped our specialty.

Continue reading “Family traditions” →

I know very a few about my genealogy. As many families in modern Russia, mine for generations had been unable to communicate with the relatives outside the USSR.

I started this year with a short trip to Italy to pick up my DNA kit and do a test to finally find some data on my ancestry. Unfortunately, there is no shipment to Russia.

I have no intent to go into personal details since this blog is dedicated primarily to orthodontics, but I can’t help feeling that knowing your own history is not less important for a specialist than for an individual.

Continue reading “On genealogy” →