History of imaging in orthodontics from Broadbent to cone-beam computed tomography

•Broadbent and Todd developed a roentgenographic craniostat in the 1920s.•An improved device, the Broadbent-Bolton cephalometer, was introduced in 1931.•Cephalometric analysis resulted in an explosion in research on craniofacial form.•Computed tomography 3D images in the 1970s came with high radiation, low resolution.•New cone-beam computed tomography machines overcame some of these problems.

The history of imaging and orthodontics is a story of technology informing biology. Advances in imaging changed our thinking as our understanding of craniofacial growth and the impact of orthodontic treatment deepened. This article traces the history of imaging in orthodontics from the invention of the cephalometer by B. Holly Broadbent in 1930 to the introduction of low-cost, low-radiation-dose cone-beam computed tomography imaging in 2015.