In this study, we aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of a prefabricated functional appliance (PFA) for managing functional anterior crossbite during the mixed dentition phase and to assess its potential applicability as an interceptive treatment modality. Thirty patients (15 males and 15 females) presenting with anterior crossbite were treated with Pre-Ortho® Type 3 exclusively. Participants were instructed to wear the appliance for 1 hour during the day and continuously while sleeping. Compliance was monitored according to the caregiver’s instructions. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were obtained at pretreatment (T0) and posttreatment (T1) and analyzed using a total of 16 angular and linear variables, respectively, to assess for skeletal, dentoalveolar, and soft tissue changes. The cephalometric examination was conducted using V-Ceph™ 8.0 (Osstem, Seoul, South Korea) and ON3D software (3D ONS Inc., Seoul, Korea). Correction of the anterior crossbite was achieved in all patients after treatment. The statistically significant changes included an increased ANB angle and a decreased SNB angle. The dental changes involved maxillary incisor proclination and mandibular incisor retroclination. We observed forward displacement of the upper lip relative to the E-plane. These findings suggest that PFA could be an effective treatment for the initial correction of functional anterior crossbite, leading to favorable dentoalveolar, skeletal, and soft tissue changes. However, considering the short-term nature of this study, further longitudinal follow-up is necessary to evaluate the long-term stability of these therapeutic effects.
Seo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.