Maxillary protraction: treatment and posttreatment effects

This study evaluated the treatment response and posttreatment follow-up of children with Class III malocclusions treated with palatal expansion and reverse-pull face mask to the maxilla. The sample included 22 white children, 9 boys and 13 girls. Treatment began at a mean age of 9.8 years (range 5.6 to 13.3 years) and lasted 0.7 years (range 0.3 to 1.3 years). With a protraction force of 600 to 800 gm, the patients were treated until a 2 mm positive overjet had been attained. Radiographs were taken before treatment (T1), immediately after face mask treatment (T2), and 1.4 years after treatment (T3). An age and sex matched sample of untreated white schoolchildren served as normal controls. The results showed that the anterior maxilla was protracted forward 1.6 mm per year more than normal. The posterior maxilla dropped inferiorly more than the anterior maxilla. The mandible was rotated downward and backward, while the lower incisors were uprighted. The effects on the mandible were attributed to a significant chincup effect exerted by the face mask. After treatment, the maxilla relapsed relatively backward in the anterior and upward in the posterior, negating some of the treatment results. The mandible resumed a normal growth direction, and the lower incisors flared more than normal.