Long-term follow-up of patients with a skeletal Angle Class III relationship treated with chin caps.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the long-term result of chin-cap treatment in patients with a skeletal Angle Class III relationship due to mandibular prognathism.


METHODS
Records of nine patients (five girls and four boys) with a mean age of 10.8 ± 1.6 years at the start of treatment were retrieved from the archives. The records comprised lateral cephalograms, intra- and extraoral photographs, and dental casts. The subjects were recalled at 6.1 ± 1.5 years after the completion of active orthodontic treatment. Cephalometric measurements from the treatment's beginning (T1), end (T2), and follow-up (T3) were calculated by using PorDios software. Subjects with a positive overjet at T3 were grouped as stable, and those with a negative overjet were grouped as relapse. Differences between the two groups were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Duncan test.


RESULTS
Five individuals maintained a positive overjet at T3, while four relapsed as indicated by a negative overjet. SNA increased in the stable group between T2 and T3 but not in the relapse group.


CONCLUSIONS
About half of the young individuals with a mandibular prognathism treated with a chin cap relapsed over time. The relapse seemed to originate from skeletal rather than dentoalveolar changes.
Uslu
Özge
Ö
Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. osgeuslu@gmail.com
Akcam
M Okan
MO
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D002680:Chin; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008313:Malocclusion, Angle Class III / Q000628:therapy*; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011378:Prognathism / Q000628:therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome