Findings of dentitions whose orthodontic treatment by removable appliances with and without extractions was ended...

Out of a total of 300 patients the data of which and the dental casts including a control cast after an interval of 3 years were completely available, 56 patients could be investigated after an interval of about 20 years. When obtaining the last impressions they were aged 38 1/2 years. All casts were estimated and evaluated according to the method of Eismann (1969). It gives prerequisites to different dentofacial anomalies to compare them with each other under reproducible conditions. 15 factors are used in the assessment of the morphology of the dentition. Each of the criteria is measured and the results are evaluated according to the table. Points are scored for each condition registered and the total number will signify the extent of the morphological abnormality. The reduction of the numerical value between the initial and final casts is a measure of the success of treatment, and the difference between the score for end-of-treatment and follow-up casts is a measure of the degree of stability. Thus the cases between the end of treatment and the first control casts showed a slight improvement of the results. Between the first and the last control casts two trends were observed. On one hand single dentitions showed a further improvement, on the other the amount of the dentofacial anomaly symptoms increased a little. There are no trends derivable that there are special reacting differences between the extraction therapy group compared to the patients without extractions. The individual mode of reactions seems to be the most important factor with respect to the morphological changes independent of type of treatment.