Retention procedures for stabilising tooth position after treatment with orthodontic bracesLittlewood, Simon J.; Millett, Declan T.; Doubleday, Bridget; Bearn, David R.; Worthington, Helen V.

Early class III orthopaedic treatment, with protraction facemask, in patients under 10 years of age, is skeletally and dentally effective in the short term and does not result in TMJ dysfunction. Seventy per cent of patients had successful treatment, defined as achieving a positive overjet. However, early treatment does not seem to confer a clinically significant psychosocial benefit.

The trail was not registered.

There is currently insufficient evidence on which to base the clinical practice of orthodontic retention.

Objective: To evaluate whether patients who had received early class III protraction facemask treatment were less likely to need orthognathic surgery compared with untreated controls. This paper is a 6-year follow-up of a previous clinical trial. Design: Multi-centre 2-arm parallel randomized controlled trial. Setting: Eight United Kingdom hospital orthodontic departments. Participants: Seventy three 7- to 9–year-old children. Method: Patients were randomly allocated, stratified for gender, into an early class III protraction facemask group (PFG) (n = 35) and a control/no treatment group (CG) (n = 38). The primary outcome, need for orthognathic surgery was assessed by panel consensus. Secondary outcomes were changed in skeletal pattern, overjet, Peer Assessment Rating (PAR), self-esteem and the oral aesthetic impact of malocclusion. The data were compared between baseline (DC1) and 6-year follow-up (DC4). A per-protocol analysis was carried out with n = 32 in the CG and n = 33 in the PFG. Results: Thirty six percent of the PFG needed orthognathic surgery, compared with 66% of the CG (P = 0.027). The odds of needing surgery was 3.5 times more likely when protraction facemask treatment was not used (odds ratio = 3.34 95% CI 1.21–9.24). The PFG exhibited a clockwise rotation and the CG an anti-clockwise rotation in the maxilla (regression coefficient 8.24 (SE 0.75); 95% CI 6.73–9.75; P < 0.001) and the mandible (regression coefficient 6.72 (SE 0.73); 95% CI 5.27–8.18; P < 0.001). Sixty eight per cent of the PFG maintained a positive overjet at 6-year follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences between the PFG and CG for skeletal/occlusal improvement, self-esteem or oral aesthetic impact. Conclusions: Early class III protraction facemask treatment reduces the need for orthognathic surgery. However, this effect cannot be explained by the maintenance of skeletal cephalometric change.

No abstract

Dental trauma is common in the UK, with more than one in ten children having experienced some form of dental trauma. In addition, one in ten patients have been reported to have experienced dental trauma before orthodontic treatment. A recent survey of orthodontists’ knowledge and experience of orthodontic management of traumatised teeth has highlighted large inconsistencies in management of traumatised teeth among UK orthodontists, highlighting the need for further information or training on orthodontic management of traumatised teeth. Therefore, the following guidelines have been developed in order to provide an evidence-based approach to treat this cohort of patients. The following guidance is based on the available literature, expert opinion and UK orthodontists’ consensus drawn from a recent survey.

Retention procedures for stabilising tooth position after treatment with orthodontic braces.