THE EDITOR'S CORNER

The United States is one of the few places in the world which does not use the metric system of weights and measures. Legislation has recently been enacted to encourage conversion to the use of metric measurements. Orthodontics in this country has been using a system in which some measurements were metric and some were not. Thus, we have customarily measured force in ounces; arch length, arch relationships, tooth dimensions, tooth movement, cephalometric linear measurements in millimeters; band width and thickness, wire cross-sectional measurements, bracket slots in thousandths of an inch.

Since worldwide uniformity in measurement is desirable, we can begin the conversion of ounces to grams and inches to millimeters and centimeters by printing the equivalent measurements together and JCO will make an effort to do this.

Actually, the conversion is not difficult and can be made quite simple with the handy conversion tables on pages 82 and 83 of this issue. Failing that, keep in mind that 1 gram = .035 oz. and 1 millimeter = .039 in.; 1 ounce = 28.35 gm. and 1 inch = 2.54 cm. or 25.40 mm.

The next area for international uniformity should be terminology. We may not be able to make terminology as precise as mathematics, but scientific understanding would be advanced if we found a means to establish a common orthodontic language. It might be a worthy project for an international committee of representatives of the various orthodontic associations.