Soft tissue changes after upper premolar extraction in Class II camouflage therapy

The long-term effect on the facial profile has led many orthodontists to attempt Class II division I camouflage treatment without extraction. Practitioners may cite "dishing in the face" as a reason not to extract. Previous investigations have evaluated the soft tissue response after maxillary incisor retraction, but few have evaluated the effect of maximum retraction in skeletal mandibular deficient Class II patients with essentially no crowding. Twenty-seven Class II division I Caucasian patients with a mean of 8.62 mm of overjet, little to no arch length deficiency, and maximum anchorage requirements were treated with extraction of only maxillary first premolars. Pre- and posttreatment lateral cephalograms were taken. Using several skeletal and soft tissue cephalometric measures, the treatment changes were assessed. The mean maxillary incisor retraction was 5.27 mm, the mean maxillary lip retraction was 2.03 mm, and the mean mandibular lip retraction was 1.23 mm. All the patients finished with good overall facial harmony and balance. The maxillary first premolar extraction for orthodontic camouflage may be a viable treatment option, especially if the patient has full upper lips and only a relative mandibular deficiency.