Non-Surgical Treatment of Skeletal Class III Malocclusion in Permanent Dentition

Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to evaluate dento-skeletal and soft-tissue profile changes with the treatment of Tip-Edge or Begg technique in the severe Class III subjects after extraction of lower second molars. Materials and Methods: Ten patients with severe skeletal Class III malocclusion (male 4, female 6), diagnosed as indication for orthognathic surgery, were included in the study. The average age was 13.1 years old. All cases were treated with Tip-Edge straight-wire or Begg light wire techniques. Lateral cephalometric films taken at the beginning and the end of the treatment were analyzed with Pancherz analysis and traditional cephalometric anlaysis. The arithmetic mean (Mean) and standard deviation (SD) were calculated for each variable. Paired t-test was performed to evaluate the treatment effects. Results: After active treatment, dramatic overjet change was noted with the average value of 5.4mm (p<0.001). Inclination of upper incisors was increased 2.6degrees when measured with the angle of upper incisor to SN plane (p>0.05). Inclination of lower incisors was decreased 10.3 degrees when measured with the angle of lower incisor to mandibular plane (p<0.001). Negative value of the distance difference of upper lip and lower lip to Sn-Pg' at the beginning of the treatment changed to positive value with significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusions: The preliminary results of the current study suggested that success in treatment of severe Class III deformity in permanent dentition could be achieved with fixed appliance after extraction of lower second molars. Remarkable softtissue change was noted after the treatment and concave facial profile changed to straight profile. (Enclosed 4 case reports)