Orth  dOntic

Pearls

Larry W. White , dds , msd

a C L i n i C i a n ’ s G u i d e

some of the best and most useful “little ideas”

that orthodontic clinicians use to simplify

and improve the therapies they deliver

to their patients.

all of us are a lot smarter than any single one of us.

tips on patient management, diagnosis

and treatment planning, compliance issues,

personnel solutions, and office management

in addition to orthodontic therapies.

the most eclectic array of orthodontic nuggets

ever accumulated in one publication.

Orthodontic PearlsA C l i n i C i A n ’s G u i d e

Orthodontic Pearls satisfies a long-time professional goal of collecting and publishing some of the best and most useful “little ideas” that orthodontic clinicians use to simplify and improve the therapies they deliver to their patients. Some of these “pearls” have become such an important and ubiquitous part of doctors’ therapeutic routines that they no longer feel special in any way, but they are, and they will prove absolutely new and useful to other doctors.

The entire book rests on the premise that all of us are a lot smarter than any single one of us. By training and patient expectation, dentists are therapists, and most of the pearls will relate to therapeutic remedies for orthodontic problems, but while encouraging doctors and office personnel to participate in this enterprise, I purposely did not try to limit the subjects they would address. Any and all ideas that expedite and simplify the delivery of orthodontic treatment to patients were welcomed. You will read tips on patient management, diagnosis and treatment planning, compliance issues, personnel solutions, and office management in addition to orthodontic therapies.

Orthodontic Pearls purposely has no chapters nor a firm structural organization The pearls have a chronological arrangement—I inserted the images and narratives as I discovered or received them. Some donors shared single ideas, while others supplied multiple pearls at different times and sometimes all at once. This offers readers the most eclectic array of orthodontic nuggets ever accumulated in one publication, and one which I hope will enrich orthodontists and their patients for years to come.

Larry W. White, dds, msd

about the author

Dr. Larry White grew up in Hobbs, New Mexico, and graduated from Hobbs High School in 1951. He attended the University of New Mexico, where he and his wife, Lue, graduated in 1955. They moved to Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from Baylor Dental College in 1959. Dr. White then served two years in the United States Air Force Dental Corps before moving to Hobbs, where he practiced general dentistry for five years. He returned to Baylor Dental College and received a graduate degree in orthodontics in 1968.

He practiced orthodontics in Hobbs for more than 30 years and began a brief academic career by starting the first graduate orthodontic program at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Dr. White has contributed to and authored several books about orthodontics, has published over 100 professional articles and edited several professional publications. Dr. and Mrs. White have two children, Leslie and Craig, and six grandchildren. For the past several years he and Lue have lived in Dallas, where Dr. White works as an orthodontist and teaches in the Orthodontic Department at Baylor Dental College.

Cover design by Michael Kellner

C o v e r I m a g e s : i S t o c k

Or

th

Od

On

tic

Pe

ar

ls

a

CL

in

iC

ia

n’

s

Gu

id

e

Larry W.

White, dds, msd