ABSTRACT
The aims of this study were to investigate the differences in the early craniofacial morphology of Class III malocclusions with good, fair and poor occlusal stability and to elucidate a key determinant for distinguishing the cases. Lateral cephalograms of 30 subjects with Class III malocclusion in the mixed dentition were analyzed at the start of treatment (mean age of 8.58+/-1.47). All subjects were re-evaluated after a mean period of 7.50+/-1.94 years comprising active treatment and retention. At this time, the samples were divided into three groups: good (10 subjects), fair (10 subjects) and poor (10 subjects) occlusal stability groups. According to the results of ANOVA, there were significant morphological differences in the early stage among the good, fair and poor occlusal stability groups, especially in variables that represented the vertical skeletal relationships. As well, there were already more dental compensations in the poor occlusal stability group. Stepwise discriminant analysis on the measurements at the time of first observation identified only one predictive variable: AB to mandibular plane angle (AB-MP). With this discriminant function, 83.3% of the original grouped cases were correctly classified and the canonical correlation coefficient was 0.857. In conclusion, AB-MP can be a possible predictor for the eventual prognosis of early Class III treatment. If it is below 60, the prognosis of early Class III treatment is expected to be poor, while if it is above 65, a good prognosis is expected.
