Facing the crisis

Abstract

I t is indeed a happy occasion each year when we gather to honor those Golden Anniversary Group members who have contributed so much to orthodontics. If this is a happy occasion, it also should be a solemn one when we may pause, to pay tribute to those who have passed on. Many of these have been true pioneers of orthodontics. These were remarkable men. They had no easy road to travel. The early pioneers had no guideposts to tell them whether they were right or wrong, no court or consistory to consult for approval or confirmation of their work, no authority but their own judgment, and no support in the face of criticism but their own resolute character. It is not surprising, then, that these were highly individualistic, independent men. Some of our pioneers were gentle men. They must ‘have enjoyed an inner peace, feeling a security in their own beliefs. Certainly, we know that only one who feels insecure finds it necessary to be dogmatic and unreasonabie. In the arts and sciences much is made of the fact that the work of Mendel was not discovered until 35 years after his death, that Charles Darwin came to be fully appreciated only in recent years, and that Tchaikovsky ‘died despondent as his greatest symphony, “The Pathetique,” was being rejected as merely mediocre. We have seen their counterparts in orthodontics-men who have died while seeing their ideas and concepts rejected. Would that some ‘could now see their ideas hailed in our time as rediscovered truths or perhaps even claimed as original thought by some newcomer! All of us have deeply felt the influence of these men-some of us intimately. Even the young student is touched by it, for orthodontic knowledge today is the fruition of the compounded wisdom of our predecessors. Their contribution has become our heritage. Today I submit to you this question : “Are we worthy of this heritage?”