Comparison of the effects of fixed and removable functional appliances on the skeletal and dentoalveolar structures.

OBJECTIVE

To compare and analyse the effects of activator and Forsus FRD EZ appliances in the treatment of skeletal Class II division I malocclusion.

METHODS

Lateral cephalograms and hand-wrist radiographs were collected from 24 Class II division I growing patients (14 females, 10 males). The patients were randomly divided into two equal groups and either treated with an activator appliance (Mean age 12.67 +/- 1.24 years) or with a Forsus FRD EZ appliance (Mean age 12.31 +/- 1.09 years). Pretreatment and posttreatment cephalometric radiographs were obtained, traced, superimposed and data analysed using paired t-tests and the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that the Forsus FRD EZ effectively corrected the Class II malocclusion, but the changes were mainly dentoalveolar. The Forsus FRD EZ appliance induced a clockwise rotation of the occlusal plane without significant alteration in the vertical facial dimension. Skeletally, maxillary growth was restricted and pogonion moved forward which improved the profile.

CONCLUSION

The Forsus FRD EZ appliance may be an effective dentoalveolar treatment method to manage a skeletal imbalance and improve the profile in growing patients.