30 Years Ago I Started Re-opening
In this first‑person narrative, an orthodontist recounts how, beginning in 1989, he began exploring the possibility of reopening extraction spaces that had been closed years earlier. He describes an early case of a woman who had lost both lateral incisors, resulting in facial collapse and chronic headaches. At that time he felt unable to treat her, citing uncertainty about reopening the space. Four years later, after extensive continuing‑education and the adoption of removable orthodontic appliances, he successfully created space for erupting teeth without extractions. This experience led him to consider using the same appliances to reopen previously extracted sites and place implants, forming the basis of a treatment philosophy that emphasizes non‑extraction space creation and later implant placement.
