Long-term treatment effectiveness of molding helmet therapy in the correction of posterior deformational plagiocephaly: a five-year follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of helmet therapy in the correction of deformational plagiocephaly and to assess the early occlusal abnormalities seen in these patients.


METHODS
A prospective study with blinded measurements.


METHODS
Twenty-eight patients with deformational plagiocephaly who were treated with molding helmet therapy with at least 5 years of follow-up.


METHODS
The average length of molding helmet treatment was 6.2 months. At the time of this follow-up evaluation, the mean interval since completing the molding helmet therapy was 5.6 years.


METHODS
Anthropometric measurements of cranial asymmetry included cranial vault asymmetry (CVA), orbitotragial depth asymmetry (OTDA), and cranial base asymmetry (CBA). A dental examination was also performed.


RESULTS
At the completion of therapy, the most improvement was seen in the measurement of CBA, followed by CVA and OTDA. However, in evaluating the long-term stability of molding treatment, OTDA tended to continue improving after the initial treatment, while CBA and CVA appeared to regress, although none of the changes reached statistically significant levels. In dental measurements, all the dental midline and chin deviations were toward the unaffected side with respect to occipital deformation.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that helmet remodeling with the dynamic orthotic cranioplasty band is effective in the correction of cranial asymmetry, with some nonstatistically significant changes in long-term cranial vault symmetry. Dental observations indicated the possibility of occlusal abnormalities that may affect dental, especially orthodontic, diagnosis and treatment planning.
Lee
Robert P
RP
Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Teichgraeber
John F
JF
Baumgartner
James E
JE
Waller
Amy L
AL
English
Jeryl D
JD
Lasky
Robert E
RE
Miller
Charles C
CC
Gateno
Jaime
J
Xia
James J
JJ
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002508:Cephalometry; D005146:Facial Asymmetry / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000209:etiology; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D049068:Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome