[Aesthetic repercussions of the class II treatment on the profile: comparative study Distal Activ Concept...

In the past orthodontists frequently used extra-oral force to slow down skeletal growth in their treatment of Class II malocclusions; more modern practice relies less on applying distal force to the maxilla than on stimulating forward growth of the mandible. Does this change in therapeutic design have any repercussions in facial esthetics? To evaluate the impact of treatment on the appearance of the profile, we conducted a study with 64 patients in the adolescent dentition stage with a Class II, division 1 malocclusions. None had teeth extracted or preliminary orthodontic treatment. We divided them into two sections; we treated the first group of 33 patients with the Distal Active Concept (DAC), which encourages forward movement and growth of the mandible, and we treated the second group of 31 patients with Extra-Oral Force (EOF) in combination with a full-banded appliance. Comparing the results with cephalometric profile analyses, we found that the soft tissue contour of the lower part of the face showed considerably more sagittal development in the children treated by DAC than those treated by EOF.