The Sagittal Arch Developer Appliance: A Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation

Skeletal class III malocclusion is a growth related facial deformity which increases if left untreated.¹ In many cases a developing class III is due to an anterior maxillary deficiency that needs orthopedic management very early. For many practitioners child cooperation is a problem that postpones the use of a face mask so upper sagittal arch developer can be used easily as it doesn’t depend on patient cooperation.²

The effectiveness of maxillary expansion and face mask therapy in children with class III malocclusion was studied in a sample of 46 subjects in mixed dentition and compared with a control sample of 32 subjects with untreated class III malocclusion. The results indicated that the combination of a bonded maxillary expander and face mask therapy is more effective in early mixed dentition than in late mixed dentition, specially with regard to the magnitude of the protusion effects on the maxillary structures.³