Skeletal, Dental, and Soft Tissue Changes after Applying Active Skeletonized Sutural Distractor (ASSD) for Class III Malocclusion Patients

Abstract

Background: Nonsurgical treatment of Class III malocclusion may reduce the chances for orthognathic surgery in the future. This study aimed to determine the post-treatment skeletal, dental and soft tissue changes in the anteroposterior plane applying active skeletonized sutural distractor (ASSD) in late adolescent Class III malocclusion patients. Materials and Methods: After screening 13,500 students from 18 secondary schools, a sample of 26 subjects was recruited for this study, with a mean age of 15(±1.4) years after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. ASSD appliances were inserted into patients, and lateral cephalometric x-rays were taken for pre-and post-treatment analysis. Dental casts of the patients were also taken and scanned using a 3D laser scanner for comparisons. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-examiner were 0.87 to 0.99 and 0.96 to 0.99 for lateral cephalometric and dental cast measurements, respectively. The difference in pre-and post-treatment of cephalometric measurements of the mandible showed statistically significant changes for mandibular plane angle (p < 0.001) and SNB angle (p = 0.029). The dental cast measurements showed statistically significant changes of inter-molars width (p < 0.001) as well as palatal (p = 0.002). Conclusions: The results showed statistically significant improvement in skeletal, dental, and soft tissue changes after treatment applying ASSD for Class III malocclusion patients.