Description

Skeletal openbite represents a serious challenge in dentofacial orthopedics. This lecture will discuss when is the best timing to start treatment of an openbite growing patient with or without sucking habits. The effects produced by rapid maxillary expansion in prepubertal openbite patients will be also illustrated. The long-term stability of openbite treatment will be analyzed by reporting the results of 2 recent studies on the effects of quad-helix/crib therapy and rapid maxillary expansion in association with posterior bite blocks in openbite growing patients.

Learning Objective:

• Define the best timing to start treatment of openbite growing patients.
• Demonstrate that an increased mandibular plane angle is not a contraindication for rapid maxillary expansion.
• Recognize factors that can affect can affect long-term stability of treatment outcomes in openbite patients.

Speaker(s):

• Lorenzo Franchi, DDS, PhD