What Can Be Achieved with Removable Orthodontic Appliances?

Clinical question How effective is a therapy which relies solely on removable orthodontic appliances? Patients A group of 276 consecutive patients, whose mean age was 9.50 years, diagnosed with various types of malocclusion, whose records were complete, and who were treated solely with removable appliances. Methods Measurement of the PAR Index of the pre- and post-treatment study casts, standard statistical analyses, calculation of the correlation coefficients, and method error. Results The mean pre-treatment PAR score was 19.5, the mean post-treatment PAR score 5.9. In the PAR nomogram, 79% of the patients were classified as “improved”, and 16% as “greatly improved”. In contrast, 5% had to be classified as “worse/no different”. The overall situation improved by a mean of 14 PAR points, corresponding to a mean improvement of 68%. Conclusion Using the PAR Index as a standard, removable appliances can be used successfully to correct malocclusions, providing the indication is correct and the clinician’s expertise in this field of the speciality is very high.