LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT OF A PATIENT WITH MAXILLARY PROTRUSION, SEVERE DEEP OVERBITE AND THUMB-SUCKING

Oral habits should be of primary clinical concern to orthodontists bec ause they may cause malocclusion, and/or interfere with treatment prog ress. Generally habit control should be achieved prior to correction o f the malocclusion in an effort to remove any etiological factors in d evelopment and maintenance of the malocclusion. It is also important f or the clinician to understand that habit-breaking treatment may requi re an extended treatment time because habits may have been present for long periods of time and may be related to underlying psychological p roblems. The present report documents the treatment of maxillary protr usion in a patient in which a thumb-sucking habit had persisted from i nfancy until almost age 12. Elimination of the habit was accomplished prior to correcting the malocclusion and for stability of the result. Orthodontic treatment consisted of extracting two maxillary premolars followed by full treatment with fixed appliances. Long-term postretent ion records show good stability of the corrected malocclusion.