Change in overbite: A ten-year postretention study

Abstract

T he general tendency for incisal overbite to “relapse” or return toward its pretreatment relationship makes this a topic of considerable interest to the orthodontist. To date, studies relating postretention changes in overbite to individual morphologic characteristics have not been conclusive. The common shortcoming in previous investigations of overbite relapse is the absence of a long-term postretention period. In studies that did have patient records with an adequate postretention period (5 years or more), there was a relatively small sample. The objective of the present investigation is to correlate incisal overbite to other craniofacial characteristics through serial evaluation of lateral cephalometric roentgenographs of seventy orthodontic,ally treated persons who have been free of retention appliances for at least 10 years.