The effect of first premolar extraction on vertical dimension

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the vertical changes occurring in Class I patients treated orthodontically with first premolar extraction and to compare these changes with those occurring in Class I patients treated orthodontically without extractions. Records of 40 Class I nonextraction cases (24 girls, 16 boys) and 40 Class I maxillary and mandibular first premolar extraction cases (23 girls, 17 boys) were obtained. The pretreatment and posttreatment cephalograms were digitized, and 6 linear and 8 angular cephalometric measurements were selected to evaluate vertical changes. Evaluation of the treatment results of the extraction and nonextraction cases showed that the vertical changes occurring after the extraction of maxillary and mandibular first premolars were not different than those occurring in the nonextraction cases.