Effectiveness of the open bite treatment in growing children and adolescents. A systematic review

The extensive literature concerning the early treatment of anterior open bite (AOB) is still controversial and covers a wide variety of therapeutic approaches.

The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive review evaluating the effectiveness of the orthodontic correction of AOB in growing individuals.

Search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Scielo, and Lilacs databases. Trials registries were consulted for ongoing trials, and grey literature was also contemplated.

Selection process was performed to include controlled trials enrolling growing subjects who underwent orthodontic treatment to correct AOB and/or hyperdivergent facial pattern.

Data were grouped and analysed descriptively. Qualitative appraisal was performed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs), and MINORS tool for non-RCTs.

The 22 studies included in this review mostly considered mixed dentition subjects, and there was a considerable variation regarding therapeutic approaches. Because of poor-quality and/or insufficient evidence, consistent results were not found. However, some useful clinical inferences and suggestions for future studies were provided for each therapeutic modality considered here.

Additional efforts must still be directed to perform, whenever possible, RCTs; or to conduct prospective controlled trials with adequate sample sizes, consecutively assembled subjects, with the comparison of contemporary and equivalent groups.