Class II: a comparison of activator and activator headgear combination appliances

The purpose of this study was to evaluate skeletal and dental effects of activator and activator high-pull headgear combination appliances on growing patients with Class II, division 1 malocclusion. The material consisted of pre- and post-treatment cephalograms of 17 boys and 20 girls. Seventeen patients (eight male and nine female) were treated with an activator, the remaining 20 (9 male and 11 female) were treated with an activator high-pull headgear combination (AHGC) appliance. Changes due to treatment were compared with a group of 19 (nine male and ten female) untreated children. ANB angle was significantly reduced and mandibular growth development was favourable in both treatment groups. The AHGC appliance was more effective in the reduction of the maxillary prognathism. An increase of the anterior facial height and clockwise rotation of the occlusal plane was observed in the patients treated with activator appliance. The cant of the mandibular plane remained stable during both treatment periods. On the other hand, the forward displacement of the upper first molars was reduced significantly and the axial inclination of the lower incisors was controlled much better with the AHGC appliance.