Early treatment of class III malocclusion with Petit facemask therapy

Class III malocclusion with retrusive maxilla can be orthopedically corrected in the deciduous or mixed dentition, with reverse pull headgear in combination with or without rapid maxillary expansion. The advantage of expansion in these patients is to correct the posterior cross bite, and disarticulate the maxilla. This is a case report of successful treatment of developing skeletal class III malocclusion using Petit facemask without maxillary expansion. A 10-year-old girl presented with concave facial profile and decreased lower facial height. She had bilateral class III molar and canine relationships with reverse overjet of 3 mm and over bite of 6 mm. The treatment objective was to correct the skeletal class III to achieve a more harmonious facial profile. Patient was treated with Petit facemask, by applying a force directed at angle of 30 degrees to occlusal plane for a period of 4 months. The intra-oral appliance used was an acrylic cap splint without expansion. The post treatment results showed a significant improvement in facial profile with class I molar relationship and no change in treatment time when compared with patients treated by facemask therapy and maxillary expansion.