Early treatment of the Class III malocclusion with rapid maxillary expansion and maxillary protraction.

This study comprised a sample of 31 patients with Class III malocclusion (21 girls and 10 boys), with ages ranging from 5 years 2 months to 11 years 6 months. All patients were in the deciduous or mixed dentition. The indicated treatment was rapid maxillary expansion, immediately followed by maxillary protraction with the facial mask. Mean treatment time was 8 months, varying from 4 to 24 months. The therapy induced both dental and skeletal alterations. Skeletal alterations consisted of maxillary anterior displacement and mandibular downward and backward rotation, improving facial profile. Dental alterations, known as dentoalveolar compensations, consisted of a tendency of labial tipping of the maxillary incisors and lingual tipping of the mandibular incisors.