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According to “Dr. Wo” Wm. Randol Womack, DDS, Board Certified Orthodontist Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine

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by Wm. Randol Womack, DDS, Board Certified Orthodontist
Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine

There are many days in one's life that mark a significant happening, which are indelibly stamped on our memory. There are days associated with world happenings both bad and good. There are days that are associated with personal happenings that bring both tears and happiness. When things are good, we remain guarded because things can become bad. And when things are bad, we remain optimistic, because things can become good again. I'm reminded of my father's admonition to me before he passed, "Son, there is one thing in life you can always count on – nothing stays the same."

What brings me to this writing was the news of Steve Jobs' passing. Between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, their visions have had immeasurable impact on our way of life today. But the scope of Jobs' Apple has expanded to so many aspects of our personal daily living, that we become complacent and we are inclined to take its impact for granted, until something changes.

Steve Jobs raised the innovation bar. He changed so much of the way the world has worked for the past 35 years. From the Apple computer to the Macintosh to the iPod to the iTouch to the iPhone, the penetration into our daily lives is almost inconceivable. I even observed most of the lecture slides in today's orthodontic presentations are being generated mostly by Macs! Apple will never be the same without him, and what happens going forward remains to be seen.

A couple years ago at an orthodontic meeting in Arizona, Vince Kokich announced he was retiring from the lecture circuit soon after that meeting. His lectures had a great influence on me professionally. Now Vince has moved into a different position of influence as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. Then, most recently at the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists meeting in Vancouver in late September 2011, Jim Hilgers announced his exit from the lecture circuit. Jim's presentations were the epitome of efficiency and effectiveness. I bought my first diode laser a number of years ago after one of his presentations. Again, nothing stays the same…

Orthodontics is certainly changing, thanks to the innovators who have brought us to today's level of diagnosis and treatment. Not staying the same, in orthodontics, has created the growth and the progress that has changed our profession for the better. Those who have had visions and who worked to perfect them and teach them have had their impact on our profession, just like Gates and Jobs. Some of them have passed but there are so many others, today, who are carrying on this tradition. They are the Steve Jobs of orthodontics and we are so grateful for them and for those who preceded them. Nothing stays the same…
Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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