A functional approach to treatment of skeletal open bite.

In general orthopedics the relationship between postural behavior and skeletal deformities has long been recognized. The primary therapeutic problem in functional orthopedics is to overcome functional disorders. In this article the applicability of this functional concept to orofacial orthopedics is discussed on the basis of a longitudinal study of skeletal open bite. A comparison of a series of lateral cephalograms of thirty patients with skeletal open bite who were treated with functional regulators developed by Fränkel and those of eleven untreated open bite cases suggests that some dentofacial deformities in the skeletal open bite cases can be corrected to the average norms. In addition, as a result of overcoming the poor postural pattern of the orofacial musculature and re-establishment of a competent lip seal, a considerable change in the soft-tissue profile occurred.