[in Japanese]

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Development of an Innovative Lingual Orthodontic Bracket System
Purpose)
While placing lingual orthodontic brackets at the most cervical portion of the lingual tooth surfaces makes it possible to control and maintain the tooth axis more easily and also allows simplification of the archwire form, it has the disadvantage of narrowing the space for the tongue. The author has developed a novel lingual bracket system that minimizes narrowing of the tongue space. Excellent clinical outcomes have been obtained with the use of this bracket system. This presentation reports clinical cases in which this new bracket system was utilized in treatment.
Methods)
The author has developed a new type of lingual orthodontic bracket system, based upon the lingual bracket system developed by American Orthodontics in the 1980's. This new system has been developed through analyzing the anthropometric data of the lingual surfaces of the teeth the author has collected and making the bracket size smaller.
Results)
The new brackets have been designed to assume a simple and overall rounded morphology, without hook-like projections. The dimensions are as follows: width 2.0 mm, height 3.3 mm, and thickness 1.8 mm.
Discussion)
Since the new bracket system has better adaptation for the lingual tooth surfaces, it is possible to approximate the brackets more closely to the tooth surfaces, alleviating the tongue discomfort. In addition, since the new brackets are placed at the most cervical areas of the lingual tooth surfaces, it is possible to maintain and control the tooth axis of the anterior teeth more easily. The tooth axes were maintained in favorable conditions in response to short-term labiolingual tooth movements by the new bracket system.

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Still today, it remains a challenge - even for Orthodontists with a great deal of experience and special techniques - to obtain the consistently high-level results for lingual treatment that can be achieved for labial treatment. A major problem of Lingual Orthodontic Treatment is the difficulty of bending the wire on the shorter, lingual side bracket span.
Responsible Orthodontists must prepare a clinical environment possessing a totally balanced treatment system (high personal ability, staff education, treatment facilities, etc.) in which patients can receive high-quality Lingual Orthodontic Treatment.
In this presentation, I will present a case of re-treatment because of the patient's dissatisfaction with her original treatment. This will show what I believe to be the optimal balance of a clinical system for Lingual Orthodontic Treatment.

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[in Japanese]

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The purpose of this study was to survey about the lingual orthodontics in Japan. Questionnaires were sent to 350 JLOA members. Responses to the questionnaire were received from 182 members. Additional questionnaires were done to these 182 members.
The results were as follows:
1.Average annual number of new patients was less than 20 per year was 73%.
2.Percentage of patients currently being treated was less than 30 was 60%.
3.Percentage of full lingual and half lingual was almost the same degree
4.Percentage of members belonging to the International Society of lingual orthodontics was 27%.
5.The years of experience in lingual orthodontics is less than 15 years was 65%.
6.As a longer clinical experience of lingual orthodontics, full lingual cases tended to increase the percentage.

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[in Japanese]

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