Self-Ligating Brackets in Orthodontics: Current Concepts and Techniques

BJORN LUDWIG, DMD, MSD
DIRK BISTER, MD, DD
SEBASTIAN BAUMGAERTEL, DMD, MSD, FRCD

256 pages, 1,530 illustrations (mostly color). $200. 2012.
Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001.
(212) 760-0888; www.thieme.com.

This refreshingly unbiased book is a comprehensive clinical overview of a wide variety of commercially available self-ligating systems. The authors deliver an objective evaluation of both the advantages and disadvantages of each bracket, flavored with valuable clinical pearls from their own practical experience.

The contents are divided into two parts and nine subsections. Part I ("Basics") highlights background information: after the concise "Development and History of Fixed Appliances", a chapter on "Materials of Self-Ligating Brackets" describes the differences among bracket and archwire designs, and "Bracket Systems "provides a thorough comparison of 13 self-ligating systems. Part II ("Treatment") reviews clinical treatment with self-ligating brackets from start to finish, including chapters on diagnosis, oral hygiene, bonding techniques, treatment (numerous case reports with remarkable documentation, including sequential photographs and computed-tomography superimpositions), auxiliary equipment and techniques, and retention--always an important topic in regard to self-ligating brackets.

Each chapter is written in conversational prose, as if you were speaking with your orthodontic faculty. Most important, overly grandiose claims by manufactures are clearly refuted. Of particular interest are the chapters covering treatment and retention, which provide an incredible amount of clinical insight regarding a wide variety of treatments and techniques while addressing such controversial topics as the use of rapid palatal expansion, the periodontal implications of buccal expansion with large archwires, and incisor dumping due to loss of vertical control.

There is no magic bracket, but this book provides ample information regarding the benefits and limitations of a variety of popular self-ligating systems, along with insightful practical tips for everyone from beginners to the most experienced orthodontists.

NEAL D. KRAVITZ, DMD, MS