The Pioneer Almost Forgotten by Orthodontics
In past years I was lucky enough to attend courses with Dr. Robert Ricketts and his bioprogressive philosophy, I was in the middle of my career as an orthodontist when I met him, it was a time of intense training and although bioprogressive therapy did not seem practical at all, what attracted me most was its mathematical basis and biological predictions based on statistics, this gave me a lot of security in planning because I could quantify many situations. Dr Ricketts considered by many to be one of the pillars of Modern Orthodontics.
He was essentially a researcher and statistician who revolutionized the techniques and diagnostic system of current Orthodontics. Ricketts learned orthodontics practically “from those who invented it.” He had as teachers founding figures of Orthodontics such as Stainer, Nance, Brody, Tweed, who taught him their once famous cephalometry. Shortly after, Ricketts verified with scientific methods that some bases of his cephalometrics had many variations with growth. Perfectly predictable growth in healthy patients.
Sometimes it’s important to remember that when we lose treasured friends—like parents and teachers—we’re not really losing them at all. Memories endure, lessons remain, and legacies live on. The great ones link our roots to the future, blending all that was with all that may come to be. One such person was Robert Murray Ricketts. Here is a glimpse into the professional life of this extraordinary man. “Bob”—to those closest to him— always understood that the world is a strange and mysterious place,and that life’s pursuit, its very motivation, is to understand it—for the sake of others, especially children. Let it be known from this space that he was a controversial figure par excellence. Bold, brazen, irreverent, provocative, and at times, sharply insightful. Warm, affectionate, and deeply committed to helping others learn.
The Pioneer Almost Forgotten by Orthodontics
Robert M. Ricketts was by no means “irrelevant”—in fact, he was extremely influential—but the dissemination of his approach differed from that of more commercially driven orthodontic systems. The bioprogressive philosophy is conceptually demanding, as it integrates growth, function, advanced cephalometry, and biomechanics, making it less “quick to learn” compared to simpler or standardized techniques. Unlike other schools, such as Tweed or preadjusted systems, Ricketts did not promote a closed system based on specific brackets or prescriptions, which made it difficult for major companies to package and distribute his approach widely.
Furthermore, from the 1980s to the 2000s, orthodontics shifted toward faster, more reproducible, and commercially marketable systems, including fixed prescriptions and later aligners, while the bioprogressive philosophy, being highly individualized, did not fit easily into this model. Ricketts devoted much of his career to research, teaching, and the biological foundations of orthodontics, focusing less on commercial promotion, which naturally limited its exposure compared to industry-backed techniques. His work was not “erased”; rather, his approach was not easily marketable, reducing its visibility relative to methods promoted by major brands.
Almost total disregard for financial matters put some stress in his life. The obsession with looking and investigating what lies beyond far surpassed his need to make money. His passion for orthodontics demanded that you never simply just torqued a wire, you must torqued and adapt your life too.
In memory of R. Ricketts and A. Baggini for inspiring Orthoprogressive.
