Cortese Marina, Pigato Giada, Casiraghi Giulia, Ferrari Maurizio, Bianco Edoardo, Maddalone Marcello
Department of Dentistry, School of Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy, Phone: +39 3496248067, e-mail:
Department of Dentistry, School of Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy.
J Contemp Dent Pract. 2020 Jun 1;21(6):666-672.
The development of a class II malocclusion is usually related to a reduced oropharyngeal airway space. In order to prevent airway obstruction, functional appliances are commonly used for orthodontic therapy. The aim of the article is to verify if these appliances could positively influence oropharyngeal diameters preventing the onset of future respiratory disorders.
A group of 10 patients treated at the Dental Clinic of San Gerardo Hospital in Monza with mandibular activator was selected. Ten similar untreated class II subjects with retrognathic mandible were used as control group. The cephalometric tracings were made on lateral teleradiographs of the skull before and after the active therapy with functional devices for the treated group and before and after growth peak for the control one. Descriptive statistical analysis was calculated for all the cephalometric values in both study cases and control group using Excel worksheet. The data distribution was evaluated with Shapiro-Wilk test and the in-between group discrepancies were evaluated with Mann-Whitney test.
At T1 period, both case and control groups showed a class II pattern. At T2 period, the study group shows an improvement in bones relationship with reduced ANB angles and OVJ measurements. The control group otherwise did not show any important changes in maxillo-mandibular discrepancies. The airway size increased in either group in most cases. No significant differences between the treated and control groups were detected for airway size neither in the upper, middle, nor lower level at the T1-T2 interval.
The upper airway values did not show any significant discrepancies between the two groups during the observation period.
Functional devices were effective in solving class II relationships, but there is no evidence of successful breathing disorders prevention by using mandibular activators, probably due to the stability of airway tissues reached in pubertal age in both groups.
II 类错牙合畸形的发展通常与口咽气道空间减小有关。为预防气道阻塞，正畸治疗中常用功能矫治器。本文旨在验证这些矫治器是否能对口咽直径产生积极影响，从而预防未来呼吸系统疾病的发生。
选取在蒙扎圣杰拉尔多医院牙科诊所接受下颌激活器治疗的 10 名患者。选取 10 名类似的未治疗的 II 类下颌后缩受试者作为对照组。对治疗组在功能矫治器积极治疗前后以及对照组在生长高峰期前后的头颅侧位远距 X 线片进行头影测量描记。使用 Excel 工作表对研究组和对照组的所有头影测量值进行描述性统计分析。用 Shapiro-Wilk 检验评估数据分布，用 Mann-Whitney 检验评估组间差异。
在 T1 期，病例组和对照组均呈现 II 类模式。在 T2 期，研究组骨骼关系有所改善，ANB 角和 OVJ 测量值减小。对照组在上下颌差异方面未显示任何重要变化。大多数情况下，两组气道大小均增加。在 T1 - T2 间隔期，治疗组和对照组在气道大小的上、中、下水平均未检测到显著差异。
在观察期内，两组的上气道值未显示任何显著差异。
功能矫治器在解决 II 类关系方面有效，但没有证据表明使用下颌激活器能成功预防呼吸紊乱，可能是由于两组在青春期时气道组织已达到稳定状态。
