The purpose of this study was to determine the dental and skeletal effects
of facemask therapy, and to evaluate the effect of age on treatment respons
e. The material consisted of lateral cephalometric radiographs of 34 subjec
ts with Class IH malocclusions treated with a Delaire type facemask. Two gr
oups of 17 patients each were formed: an early (six girls, 11 boys) and a l
ate treatment group (eight girls, nine boys). At the beginning of treatment
, the mean ages were 9 years 8 months for the early treatment group and 12
years 6 months for the late treatment group. The average treatment time was
7 months for both groups. A control group consisting of 17 children with a
mean age of 9 years 5 months was formed that matched only the early treatm
ent group according to age, and sagittal dental and skeletal relationships.
To differentiate the orthodontic and total effects of the Delaire type fac
emask, superimpositions were made.
In both treatment groups forward displacement of maxilla and an increase in
overjet were found to be statistically significant (P< 0.01). Evaluation o
f total superimpositions showed that there was a significant displacement o
f maxillary molars and incisors (P< 0.05, early treatment group; P< 0.01, l
ate treatment group), while no significant change was observed in local sup
erimpositions. Changes in overjet and SNB in the early treatment group show
ed a significant difference compared with the control group (P< 0.001) The
increase in Co-A and the decreases in the maxillo-mandibular differential a
nd Wits' appraisal showed significant differences compared with the control
group (P< 0.01). No significant difference was observed in skeletal and de
ntal antero-posterior changes between the treatment groups.