Influence of incisor position control on the mandibular response in growing patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion

Introduction This study aimed to test whether control in maxillary and mandibular incisor position, during treatment with an acrylic splint Herbst appliance, could influence the mandibular response in growing patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion. Methods The lateral cephalograms of 61 patients (mean age, 12.3 years; standard deviation, 1.6) with skeletal and dental Class II malocclusion were retrospectively analyzed both at baseline and after Herbst appliance removal, using a modified Pancherz cephalomeric analysis. Forty-five patients had received miniscrew in the mandibular arch to control mandibular incisor anchorage. In 21 patients, the maxillary incisors had been proclinated before starting the treatment for deepbite and maxillary incisor lingual inclination. All the patients were categorized a posteriori into 2 homogeneous groups, according to dental overjet reduction: 30 patients with dental overjet reduction (DR) and 31 patients without dental overjet reduction (NDR). Results Both groups presented a significant skeletal correction. However, the change was significantly greater in the NDR group than in the DR group (P  Conclusions The results showed that dental control of overjet was beneficial to improve the effectiveness of Herbst treatment in increasing mandibular length in growing patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion.