Background: The primary objective of this retrospective, longitudinal, cephalometric investigation was to study the influence of extraction and nonextraction orthodontic treatment on the facial height of Japanese-Brazilian children with Class I and Class II Division 1 malocclusions.
Methods: The sample included 59 mesocephalic patients distributed into 4 groups: group 1: Class I patients treated with 4 first premolar extractions; group 2: Class I patients treated nonextraction; group 3: Class II Division 1 patients treated with 4 first premolar extractions; group 4: Class II Division 1 patients treated nonextraction. The overall initial mean age of the groups was 12.14 years, and all groups were treated with standard edgewise appliances for a mean period of 2.49 years. The pretreatment and posttreatment stage comparison and the intergroup comparison of the treatment changes were conducted between extraction and nonextraction groups in the Class I and Class II malocclusion samples with t tests.
Results: The amounts of changes in the absolute magnitude of posterior and anterior facial heights and in the ratios of lower posterior facial height/lower anterior facial height and lower anterior facial height/total anterior facial height were similar between extraction and nonextraction treatment in both Class I and Class II malocclusions.