[Orthodontics and Alexis Schange in 1841]

Alexis Schange was one of the first practitioners able to use accurate casts of the dental arches thanks to the invention of the impression-tray by Delabarre. Consequently, his diagnoses were more precise and his appliances fitted better than those of his predecessors.

The author will first outline the status of Orthodontics prior to Schange and the advent of the first casts, before describing Schange's contribution to Orthodontics.

In 1841, Schange published his "Handbook of Dental Uprighting", a clear and pedagogical work and undoubtedly the best over the many years when Orthodontics was exclusively European.