Incisor retraction and profile changes in adult patients

The aims of this study were to evaluate the changes in the facial profile related to maxillary incisor retraction and to check for correlations between changes in the lip and changes in the positions of the teeth and alveolar bone during orthodontic treatment. Initial and final lateral cephalometric radiographs of 25 nongrowing Brazilian patients were selected for this study. All patients initially presented with Class I or II malocclusions and had their maxillary incisors retracted at least 2 mm during orthodontic treatment. Changes in lip position, length, and width, as well as changes in the positions of the alveolar bones and incisors, were calculated. Statistically significant differences from pretreatment to posttreatment were observed for all measurements except for upper lip length and point A. A high correlation was demonstrated between changes in the lower lip sulcus and point B and between changes in the lower lip sulcus and the mandibular incisor. Changes in the maxillary and mandibular incisors did not show a high correlation to the total lip changes, but high correlation coefficients were obtained when the changes in lip width were excluded from the total lip changes. In other words, changes in lip width tended to mask the changes in lip position caused by retraction of the maxillary incisors.