Rolf Frankel

Rolf Fränkel (born March 29, 1908 in Leipzig , † September 9, 2001 in Zwickau ) was a German orthodontist and inventor of the function regulator, an orthodontic device for the treatment of jaw anomalies.

Live and act

Fränkel studied dentistry in Leipzig and Marburg from 1927 to 1930 and received his doctorate in 1931. He then completed a three-year internship at the Hufeland Hospital in Essen before setting up his own practice in Zwickau. During the Second World War he worked under the direction of Professor Reichenbach in a Leipzig and Bad Lausick military hospital , where he treated injured jaws and faces.

A function regulator type FR1 according to Fränkel

After the Second World War, Fränkel worked in his practice in Zwickau until 1960, drawing particular attention to himself through the development of special medical devices for orthodontics. From 1955 Fränkel started using buccal plates for tooth correction, in 1956 he began to work with spring joint plates . This work led to the development of the function controller as early as 1957 . From 1959 he introduced the treatment with skeletonized oral atrial plates . He was highly valued as a reviewer and leader of working groups.

After giving up his practice in 1960, he founded the Orthodontic Institute at Heinrich-Braun-Krankenhaus Zwickau , with which he gained worldwide recognition over the years. Here the function regulators were developed to readiness for use (1960) and used. Scientists and practitioners from all continents came to Zwickau to familiarize themselves with his new treatment method in advanced training courses and internships. This was followed by numerous courses and guest lectures at home and abroad, even in countries in which until then treatment was almost exclusively carried out using fixed equipment. Rolf Fränkel completed his habilitation in 1966 and was appointed professor at the Medical Academy in Erfurt .

Although his treatment concept never caught on, he gained popularity in his field. This contradiction is due to the fact that "the image that exists of the importance of a researcher in the consciousness of his colleagues is determined not only by his achievements, but also by the clever propagation of his research results in the sense of modern marketing."

Honors

Professor Fränkel was an honorary member of the German Society for Orthodontics and many domestic and foreign societies. As conference president, he often led international congresses. In 1990 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Humboldt University in Berlin . A clinic in Detroit ( Michigan , USA ) bears his name. His scientific work received international recognition when he received the Albert H. Ketcham Memorial Award in May 1995.

Although Fränkel had the privilege of being able to travel freely in the GDR and thus also the opportunity to turn his back on his homeland, he returned to his hometown of Zwickau despite attractive offers from abroad. Rolf Fränkel became an honorary citizen of the city of Zwickau in 1998 .

Works

• Tooth discoloration and prophylaxis. Hoffmann, Leipzig 1931 (dissertation, University of Leipzig, 1931).
• Form and function in orthodontics. Berlin 1966 (habilitation thesis, German Academy for Medical Training, Berlin, 1966).
• Functional orthodontics and the oral vestibule as the equipment basis. People and Health, Berlin 1967.
• Technology and handling of the function regulator. People and Health, Berlin 1973; 3rd edition: Karger, Basel 1984.
• Rolf Fränkel, Christine Fränkel: Orofacial Orthopedics with the Function Regulator. Karger, Basel 1989.
• Christine Fränkel, Rolf Fränkel: The function regulator in orofacial orthopedics. Hüthig, Heidelberg 1992.

literature

• James A. McNamara Jr: Rolf Fränkel, 1908-2001. In: American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics. Vol. 121, No. 2, February 2002, pp. 238 f., DOI: 10.1067 / mod.2002.122221 .
• Frank Möller: History of orthodontics in tabular form, developed from private sources (PDF file, 158 kB). 3rd revised edition. Weimar 2002.
• On the passing of Professor Fränkel. In: Swiss monthly for dentistry. Vol. 111 (2001), No. 11.

Web links

• Prof. Rolf Fränkel on the website of the Fränkel Center Zwickau

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. here: image of the buccal plate
2. ↑ Matthias Göhler: The development of functional orthodontics in Germany with special consideration of the contribution of the Zwickau orthodontist Rolf Fränkel. Dresden 2000 (medical dissertation, TU Dresden, 2000), p. 50
3. ↑ Advances in orthodontics: laudation on the 90th birthday of Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Fränkel on his 90th birthday, Urban Vogel Munich, 1998; 59: 61-2 (No.2)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.