Effects of Elastodontic Appliance on the Pharyngeal Airway Space in Class II Malocclusion

The present study analyzed the changes obtained on the upper airway and hyoid bone dimensions in a group of patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion treated with functional elastodontic devices compared to an untreated control group.

A group of 33 patients (19 females and 14 males) with Class II malocclusion treated with AMCOP^® SC elastodontic device was compared with a control group of 35 subjects (17 females and 18 males) with untreated Class II malocclusion. Lateral cephalograms were available at the start (T0) and end of treatment/period of observation (T1). Cephalometric analysis was performed and linear measurements to evaluate airway space and hyoid bone position were also obtained. A multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures (MANOVA) was performed to determine the effects of interactions for the groups for time.

Statistically significant differences were found in the study group from T0 and T1 with an improvement of superior upper airway (SPAS p < 0.0001), while in the control group it did not change in a statistically significant way from T0 to T1. The MANOVA test showed statistically significant differences between the two groups for the changes of SPAS (p = 0.003), IAS (p = 0.049), and H-C3 vertical (p = 0.038) values.

Functional elastodontic therapy produced significant favorable airway changes in skeletal class II subjects.