No one before Pierre Fauchard had claimed to be able to move teeth except Celsus who suggested applying finger pressure to a tooth that was erupting in the wrong direction.

Fauchard advised dentists to examine a patient’s mouth and occlusion first and then, if necessary, to use one of a number of methods he proposed to “straighten” irregular teeth. The principal device was a “plate,” a small segment of thin metal attached to anchor teeth from which force could be exerted on mal-positioned teeth. He uprighted teeth leaning inward by luxation with a “pelican.”

The two chapters of his book that were devoted to “straightening” teeth constitute the origin of modern orthodontics.