Functional and Orthodontic Treatment of a Class II Malocclusion: Case Report

Class II malocclusion, the distal relationship between mandibular and maxillary molars, is very frequent in the population. In growing patients it carries a great risk of dental trauma, a more negative perception of facial and dental aesthetics a negative impact on the quality of life and self-esteem, a greater predisposition to periodontal diseases and a greater incidence of sleep disorders. It has different etiologies. Thus many treatment approaches can be used to correct this condition, either an orthopedic treatment and orthodontic treatment or a combination protocol. Functional devises have been widely used for the correction of the sagittal intermaxillary relationship in growing patients, but especially in the treatment of Class II. The success of a two phase treatment depends on its initiation during the growth period and on the patient’s degree of implication. This case illustrates a two phase treatment where sagittal correction was undertaken before transverse correction to make optimal use of the patient's pubertal growth spurt in first phase followed by a second phase of fixed appliance therapy during adolescence to achieve optimal results.