10 Tissue response to orthopaedic forces 127

11 Possible adverse tissue reactions 135

12 Retention and post-retention outcome 147

The aim of this book is to discuss the principles of treatment planning, based on differential diagnosis as well as the biological stage of the individual (children in mixed/permanent dentition, adolescents, adults) to give a modern concept of orthodontics. Today, a wide variety of

therapeutic techniques is available with special preferences in the different technique programmes,

but they will not be described in detail in this book.

Orthodontics has changed its character during the last decades due to intense basic research on craniofacial growth and tissue response to orthodontic/orthopaedic forces, an explosive rate of development within the field of dental materials, a considerable improvement of dental health in many countries and increased social esteem afforded to orthodontic care. The treatment indication area has also widened, in that children as well as adults are increasingly subjected to orthodontic

treatment. For the patient, an improvement of facial aesthetics of dentofacial anomalies is the reason

for orthodontic therapy. Furthermore, orthodontics is increasingly regarded as an obvious component in the total dental plan, which has resulted in intensified collaboration and team-work between orthodontists and representatives of other disciplines. Thus, orthodontics today is a genuine art of the common health care.

It is the hope of the authors that, in addition to making the dental student familiar with the essentials of orthodontics, this book also may serve as a stimulus for further studies to those students who find orthodontics a discipline of special interest.