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. 2019 Jan 14;20(1):2.
doi: 10.1186/s40510-018-0254-9.

Maxillofacial morphological factors related to acceleration of maxillary growth attributed to facial mask treatment: a structural superimposition study

Takashi S Kajii  1 , Yui Sakaguchi  2 , Yoshihiko Sawa  3 , Sachio Tamaoki  2
Affiliations

Maxillofacial morphological factors related to acceleration of maxillary growth attributed to facial mask treatment: a structural superimposition study

Takashi S Kajii et al. Prog Orthod. .

Abstract

Background: Anatomical textbooks mention that the contact between the pterygoid process and the palatine's pyramidal process is not a "suture" but "conjugation.".The aim was to evaluate the maxillofacial morphological factor responding most to the orthopedic force of facial mask treatment, using the structural superimposition analysis.

Methods: Thirty-one girls with Angle Class III malocclusion treated using a facial mask (FM group) and 11 girls with pseudo-Class III malocclusion (pseudo-III group) were examined. Lateral cephalograms at pre- and posttreatment were analyzed to evaluate maxillofacial changes. Cephalometric structural superimposition analysis originating with Björk and Skieller was also performed.

Results: In the FM group, a multiple linear regression model showed that maxillary sutural growth was significantly associated with counter-clockwise rotation of the maxilla and treatment changes in the anteroposterior distance from the pterygomaxillary fissure to the maxillary anterior alveolus, not changes in the distance from the nasion to the maxillary anterior alveolus.

Conclusions: Structural superimposition analysis showed that counter-clockwise rotation of the maxilla and changes in the distance from the pterygomaxillary fissure to the maxillary anterior alveolus responded most to the orthopedic force of facial mask treatment. The analysis implicated that the pterygoid fissure-palatine's pyramidal process conjugation responds most to facial mask treatment among maxillofacial sutures and conjugation, and that the difference in the response induces maxillary counter-clockwise rotation.

Keywords: Facial mask; Maxillofacial sutures; Orthodontics; Orthopedic force; Pterygoid fissure–palatine’s pyramidal process conjugation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Ethics Committee of Fukuoka Dental College approved the protocols of this retrospective study (No. 214). Subjects provided their informed consent for participation in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Left: Superimposition of pre-treatment (initial, T1) and posttreatment (final, T2) tracings on the cranial base. Right: Superimposition of T1 and T2 tracings on the maxillary internal stable structure, the anterior contour of the zygomatic processes (shown by a black broken line). The maxillary dental component and maxillary skeletal component are represented. The maxillary rotation was measured as the angle between the sella-nasion (SN) lines of T1 and T2 tracings on the superimposition. Ptm: the pterygomaxillary fissure; A: point A
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Superimposed graphic vector representations of maxillary molars in the FM and pseudo-III groups. Solid line: FM group; broken line: pseudo-III group. Vector A: maxillary skeletal growth component; vector B: maxillary dental component. The functional occlusal plane, a line drawn through the occlusal surfaces of the maxillary and mandibular first molars and first and second deciduous molars, of the T2 cephalogram was used as the x-axis for the sagittal direction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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