Twenty years ago, during a conversation with Dr Alfredo Martina, then already among the leading publishers in the field of dentistry, I put to him the idea of starting a series of textbooks devoted to orthodontics. Ever an clever and outstanding entrepreneur, he enthusiastically embraced the suggestion. He took care of the books’ graphics, image and format. The result was excellent, so valid and pleasing that these aspects have remained exactly the same ever since.
The first book in the series came out in January 1997, and since then we have maintained the agreed twiceyearly publication schedule, with the result that now, having come to the end of the 20th year, we have produced a total of 40 volumes. Alfredo, who died a few years ago, was a dear friend as well as a valued publisher, and I remain grateful to him for the enthusiasm, energy, dedication and wisdom that he unfailingly demonstrated, even in difficult periods linked to the general economic crisis, when he supported me and encouraged me to keep pressing ahead with renewed determination and confidence. To me he was always a teacher of life!
Continuing steadily in our endeavours, by the end of the 10th year we had reached volume number 20, and from there we proceeded onwards, equally steadily, until we reached the thirtieth book of the series, the one co-written by Prof. Birte Melsen, director of the well known “Aarhus’s School”. This was the volume that saw us taking the decision to start publishing these books in two languages: English as well as Italian.
As a result of this decision, the series began to enjoy international success, too, as well as recognition in the form of excellent reviews in some of the leading dentistry journals, both in Europe and in the United States.
This was the point at which I decided to
involve my son Alberto as co-director of the series, and I
wish to thank him for his support and for having introduced
new ideas and up-to-date projects, as well as, from the outset,
an new orthodontics oriented outlook.
The time has now come to pass the baton on to him, and I do
so in the certain knowledge that he is the right person to
carry the project forward towards the new goals, within both
orthodontics and the publishing industry, that today’s
dynamic modern technologies and exciting new research avenues
require us to pursue. I wish to thank Dr. Vincenzo Martina
and Dr. Nadia Martina for so readily agreeing to continue
the series, both as a tribute to the memory of their late
father and because they share his faith in the future. From
now on, the volumes will be published on an annual basis.
My deepest thanks go to the excellent directors and able students of all the Italian university schools that have supported this series: through their research and experience they have helped to enrich it, in some cases with more than one monograph! Similarly, I wish to thank the series’ numerous independent authors: professionals of considerable distinction and international renown, whose excellent clinical contributions have also helped to raise its scientific level. Finally, a thank you to all our readers, both the die-hard ones who have chosen to read every single book, and those who have preferred to focus only on the volumes most relevant to their particular clinical field. I have been gratified by the number of them who have contacted me, in writing or by phone, grateful to have been able, in this way, to improve their own professional skills. “Scripta Manent et Non Omnis Moriar!”.
I am proud and pleased to be leaving, as a legacy, this publishing project, which will remain part of the historical memory of orthodontics, of many excellent teachers and their schools, and of illustrious clinicians, as a testament to the scientific validity and excellence of this field in Italy.
Prof. Damaso
Caprioglio
Former Full Professor of Orthodontics
University of Parma
Dean of Italian Specialists in Orthodontics
d.caprioglio@ dentalchildren.net