Early Class III Treatment: Is the Benefit Worth the Burden?

Seven out of ten children will have developed a malocclusion by the time they have reached peak puberty. Ninety percent of these malocclusions are tooth related caused by environmental issues (eg. oral habits and medical induced mouth breathing). The remaining ten percent of developing pediatric malocclusions are skeletal-based caused by hereditary and neuromuscular problems. These conditions can affect normal jaw growth and development in the Transverse, Horizontal and Vertical planes of cranio-facial growth. It is the goal of pediatric orthodontics to intercept and rectify abnormal growth patterns of the craniofacial structures.

The clinical delivery of early orthodontic care in private pediatric practice does so in one of three ways: preferably Growth Modification, Camouflage Treatment and delaying treatment with referral for Orthognathic Surgery when growth is completed.

The Class III malocclusion is the most precarious to diagnose and treat because of the latent genetic potential and the differential growth patterns that may result. The author has reviewed the literature and published a degree of difficulty classification of the Class III into seven sub-types.¹ (Table 1)