| Popis: |
The Federal Government, through a number of programs sponsored by several different official agencies, is making some contributions to the development of orthodontic programs. The contributions may seem unrelated and not very profound, but at the same time it is evolutionary in that remedial programs of a limited nature are supported, and that research, both intramural and extramural, is receiving some financial encouragement. On the national level there are a number of opportunities for cooperation and leadership which no doubt will benefit the profession, as well as the public. Several specific problems which might be undertaken by orthodontists or their official organizations are: first, the encouragement and promotion of reporting of cleft palate and harelip on birth supplement records in all states as a means of estimating the size of the problem and providing the mechanism to handle it; second, the experimentation with and the promotion of new approaches to handling the orthodontic needs of public beneficiaries; and finally, and perhaps most importantly, the active support of dental research programs from the technical, as well as the financial, point of view. The coming decade may well be the golden age of orthodontics, as the last decade has been the golden age of dental caries control. |
