Effectiveness of the oral screen in the treatment of upper incisor protrusions

Abstract

T HE interception and correction of malocclusions in children have become a major objective in both orthodontics and pedodontics.‘* * One of the most obvious types of malocclusion, and one which is most often referred for treatment, is characterized by a protrusion of the upper incisors. Upper anterior protrusions may be associated with a distocclusion of the molar teeth (Class II, Division 1) or with a normal occlusion of the molar teeth but crowding of other teeth, usually the lower incisors (Class I).3 Protrusions generally are the result of local forces acting on these teeth in a labial direction. These forces include prolonged thumb-sucking, lip-sucking, tongue-sucking, mouth-breathing, and many types of muscular perversions and pressure habits, such as tongue-thrusting, leaning on fists, or sleeping on arms or hands.3 “The teeth, once they emerge from their bony crypts, are completely at the mercy of their muscular environment so far as their buccolingual and labiolingual positions are concerned. Their arrangement will be determined by the equilibrium between the tongue on the inside and the lips and cheeks without. ’ ‘4 The re-establishment of normal muscular function is therefore paramount to a stabilized occlusion. Corrective appliances and interceptive devices which eliminate the habit and restore normal muscle balances while correcting the malocclusion are therefore most useful in this connection.