Maxillary molar vertical control with the use of transpalatal arches

Upper molar eruption and its clinical significance to vertical control were measured in a retrospective cephalometric study of 40 patients (20 with and 20 without transpalatal arches) treated in a private practice. Pretreatment and posttreatment cephalometric values were compared to determine how well the patients were matched. No statistically significant differences were noted between control and test groups for the following variables: maxillary and mandibular molar vertical eruption per year, maxillary complex vertical growth per year, effective horizontal condylar growth per year, ratio of effective horizontal pogonion movement to effective vertical pogonion movement, ratio of effective vertical condylar growth to the summation of maxillary, and mandibular vertical molar eruption plus maxillary complex vertical growth, beginning age, and ending age. The control group exhibited statistically greater forward positioning of pogonion and greater effective vertical condylar growth than did the treatment group.