[Two cases of crowding with disharmony between the upper and lower jaws]

Since the malocclusion involved with a disharmony between the upper and lower jaws is generally treated with growth stimulation and inhibition to correct the disharmony, orthodontic treatment for this type of malocclusion is usually started at an early age. On the other hand, the case of crowding which has no such problem is caused by so called arch length discrepancy; discrepancy between teeth and jaw sizes. This type of maloccusion, therefore, is usually treated with extraction of teeth and in most of these cases treatment is started after the permanent dentition is established and growth and development of the maxilla is fairly well completed. Actually, however, case of crowding often have skeletal disharmony as a potential problem, in which cases the orthopedic approach is thought to be better if started rather early. This is because the orthodontic approach alone is not enough to solve skeletal problems, which problems are better handled before the teeth are moved. This procedure can prevent excessive tooth movement. The two cases reported here with crowding as the chief complaint were treated by the early orthopedic approach for potential skeletal problems prior to orthodontic correction. The results indicate the effectiveness of this procedure.