Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: Skeletal class III malocclusions are considered as one of the most complex and difficult orthodontic problems to diagnose and treat. Facial appearance and occlusion problems make the patients to seek treatment as soon as possible. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of early treatment with facemask compared to the patients who had no treatment.

Materials and Methods: For this retrospective study, 38 growing patients (mean age, 8.5 years old) with class III dentoskeletal malocclusion were divided into 2 groups. 23 patients were treated with facemask and 15 patients who did not receive any treatment were assigned as control group. Lateral cephalograms were taken before and after treatment and dentoskeletal changes were estimated. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed ranks test.

Results: The results revealed statistically significant forward displacement of maxillary bone and upper incisors (P<0.001), and downward-backward rotation of mandible in facemask group (P<0.001). Increased lower facial height was seen in both treatment and untreated groups. However, in untreated group some measurements revealed forward displacement of maxillary complex as well.

Conclusion: It seems that in class III patients treating with facemask is a better choice than ChinCap and decision making for early treatment in class III patients should be considered seriously. Moreover, specific attention to the type of patient’s skeletal discrepancy is necessary. In class III patients, facemask might be a better option than other appliances.