There are three kinds of mechanisms regulating the growth and development of skeletal tissue：Bone growth, bone modeling and bone remodeling. However, in the current orthodontics literature, there continues to be substantial confusion regarding the usage of the term“bone remodeling”. This article reviews the historical causes for this semantics problem and explains the difference between bone modeling and remodeling, as well as the detailed skeletal regulating mechanisms in the growth and development of cranial-facial bones and orthodontic treatment. At last, this article suggests Chinese orthodontists use the terms“bone modeling”and“bone remodeling”more precisely to avoid scientific confusion and barriers to scientific exchange with other biomedical disciplines.
