Early correction of a developing Class III Malocclusion with a removable appliance

Abstract

Class III malocclusion remains one of the most difficult to treat and its treatment timing has always been controversial. The purpose of this report was to present the case of a 6-year-old patient with a Developing Class III malocclusion and anterior crossbite treated early using a simple and effective maxillary removable appliance. The proposed intervention involved the construction of a removable appliance with digital springs. A 4.5 years follow-up evaluation showed favorable results demonstrating the efficacy of the approach undertaken as well as its stability. This case demonstrates that in specific cases such as this report, when this problem is identified and treated early, pediatric dentists have the opportunity to minimize the complexity of future orthodontic treatment and limit the extent of malocclusion in the permanent dentition.