Treatment outcomes of growing Class II Division 1 patients with varying degrees of anteroposterior and vertical dysplasias, Part 2. Profile silhouette evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate pretreatment and posttreatment soft tissue profiles of 4 groups of growing Class II Division 1 patients treated with fixed orthodontic appliances and headgear. One hundred patients were grouped according to the severity of their initial retrognathia and vertical skeletal status. Standardized pretreatment and posttreatment profile silhouettes of each patient were randomized and projected for scoring by panels of lay persons and orthodontic residents. Statistical analysis consisting of nonparametric procedures showed that (1) as the initial skeletal discrepancies between the 4 groups worsened, the initial profiles were judged to be more unattractive (P <.001); (2) there was no perceived difference in the final profiles between the 4 groups; and (3) significantly greater improvement was measured for those with greater initial skeletal discrepancies (P <.05). This study demonstrated that, with appropriate and timely treatment with fixed orthodontic appliances and headgear, growing Class II Division 1 patients can undergo significant profile improvement, and, on average, even those more severely affected can achieve profile improvement so that they can be judged as attractive as those initially less severely affected.