Harold Kesling
Harold Dean Kesling (April 8, 1901 – 1979) was an American orthodontist best known for creating the Positioner, a device used after orthodontic treatment to help teeth settle into place. He was born in Cass County, Indiana, and earned his dental degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1923, followed by an orthodontic degree from Loyola in 1929. He practiced first in La Porte, Indiana, and later in Hammond, Indiana.
In 1945, Kesling explained that major tooth movements could be achieved with a series of Positioners by gradually changing the setup as treatment progressed. This idea helped launch the concept of clear aligners—straightening teeth without braces. He founded TP Orthodontics, Inc. in 1959 to supply orthodontic products.
Kesling attracted many orthodontists to his practice and gave numerous seminars in the 1950s. He was influenced by Raymond Begg’s light-wire technique and adopted the Begg method after learning about it in Australia, using it for about four decades and teaching it in lectures.
His son, Peter Kesling, later developed the Tip Edge appliance. In the late 1970s, Kesling also worked on an electric car called the Yare. Harold Kesling passed away in 1979.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:03 (CET).