Edward Angle (1855 to 1930) ... the father of modern Orthodontics

Abstract

A man of considerable complexity, Edward Angle combined a fierce determination to achieve perfection with an uncompromising demand that all those around him should also be imbued with the same commitment.

It was a combination that enabled Angle to become an icon in Dentistry, for he is widely regarded as the father of modern Orthodontics and his concepts and appliances still provide the foundation for much of the discipline today.

He was born in Herrick, Pennsylvania on June 1^st 1855. Abandoning the option to continue the family tradition of farming, the young Angle apprenticed himself to a dentist, then enrolled as a student in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. He developed an abiding interest in the challenges of malocclusion and became known for his innovative views on corrective treatment.

Appointed as teacher in Orthodontics at St Louis and Washington Universities where the subject was a minor component of the Department of Prosthetics, he became convinced that the discipline warranted separate educational facilities.

That became a lifelong objective and indeed resulted in the first institution devoted exclusively to the teaching of Orthodontics... recognised by the State of California in 1924 and designated as The Edward H Angle College of Orthodontia.