[Orthodontic treatment of overbite by the Tip Edge technique in conjunction with an anterior bite elevator. Part 1]

In orthodontics, incisor overbite has always been considered as an anomaly difficult to correct but also as the one most hindering the solving of the problems resulting from other associated malpositions. The recent concept of unlocking, introduced by the bioprogressive School, proves that the profession has become aware of its importance in any orthodontic treatment plan. Due to the fact that overbite also hinders the setting up of inferior brackets or forces the practitioner to bond them in a position liable to burden the parodontal health of the lower incisors has therefore induced the author to put in place, at the beginning of the treatment with the Tip-Edge technique, an anterior bite raiser thus generating space in the lateral sectors. Considering how fast the anterior problem is solved once the occlusion is lifted, the bite raiser can be suppressed within three months. Another advantage resides in the possible adjunction of an expansion screw also aimed at unlocking the occlusion in transverse direction. The question then raised in to know whether that approach which ought to be compared to the one of the functional appliances is not the ideal solution to unlock the occlusion in the three dimensions of space when the use of fixed appliances alone might be unsuitable or too slow, regarding current therapeutic aims. Attributing that spectacular therapeutic result to an incisor intrusion or a molar extrusion is of little interest as far as those alterations do not lead to an increase of the vertical dimension of the lower portion of the face. A cephalometric study, published concomitantly, has evidenced that the use of an anterior bite raiser together with the Tip-Edge technique only leads to perfectly similar alterations to those observed with the Ricketts bioprogressive technique or the Schudy edgewise technique, without the help of a bite raiser. From now on, integrating the bite raiser in our therapeutic armamentarium in conjunction with fixed techniques is highly recommended.