- Birte Melsen: Adjunct Professor, Department of Orthodontics, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Visiting Professor, College of Dentistry, New York University, New York, New York. Electronic address: birte@melsen.com.
The aim of the present paper was to re-analyze the scientific nature of our profession and to attract the focus of the orthodontist to problems and controversies within the development of the orthodontic profession over the past century. The controversy related to the application of the same words used differently within bone biology and orthodontics; the definition of the treatment goal based on perception of beauty; the trend to focus on efficacy and marketing more than on treatment of the individual patients; and the isolation of the effect of the orthodontic appliance from growth and function and the lack of understanding the word "stability" are analyzed from a critical stand point.