| Class II malocclusion treatment has varied through out the years, some of the appliances used are extra oral such as the headgear, others are intra oral appliances and these could be fixed intra-arch as the pendulum and distal jet, fixed inter-arch such as the Herbst appliance and Japser jumper and removable inter-arch such as the bionator. When treating class II malocclusion using these appliances, one would expect different ranges of skeletal and dental effects depending on the patients' cooperation and acceptance, the patients' growth potential and the severity of the malocclusion.;In 2001, the Forsus(TM) appliance was introduced as a class II corrector. Three different generations were introduced since that time with the last two generations possessing a close resemblance in their design. A limited number of studies have been published analyzing the clinical and radiographic effects of these two generations. Several clinical effects have been associated with the use of Forsus(TM) appliance. This study used these existing clinical observations and claims as the basis of the list of hypotheses.;Skeletal and dental measurements were collected and analyzed from lateral cephalometric radiographic tracings at two different time points, one before orthodontic treatment and the other after orthodontic treatment has been completed with a mean Forsus(TM) treatment time of 6 months. The treatment group was matched with an untreated control group.;A Students't-test was used to assess the mean differences between the treatment and the control group at the 0.05 significance level. A Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to assess infra and inter examiner reliability.;The results showed significant mandibular incisor proclination, no significant maxillary incisor intrusion or distal movement, no significant mandibular length increase and some significant maxillary skeletal antero-posterior positive changes. Whether the skeletal changes observed in this study were true skeletal changes or just a result of dental changes can not be proven at this time.;In conclusion, when treating class II malocclusion cases using Forsus(TM) appliance one should consider the initial degree of mandibular incisor proclination, the amount of maxillary molar intrusion or distal movement needed, the amount of mandibular length change needed and the severity of the underlying skeletal malocclusion. |
