Dental midline correction using a cantilever spring: A novel approach

Abstract

A 13-year-old patient presented with Angle's Class II subdivision right malocclusion with anterior crowding, protruded lower incisors, and a lower arch that was skewed to the left. A morphological lower midline shift of 3 mm to the left was detected. Following extraction of the upper and lower first premolars, full-arch 0.022” MBT™ appliances were placed in both arches. A 0.018” × 0.025” stainless steel archwire was split into two posterior segments and an anterior segment from the right lateral incisor to the left canine including an open vertical helical loop extending apically toward the center of resistance of the consolidated anterior segment. Subsequently, a 0.017” × 0.025” titanium–molybdenum alloy cantilever spring from the right first molar auxiliary tube was bent buccally and connected to the loop with an elastomeric chain to achieve lower midline correction by translation. Midline correction with the use of segmented-wire technique and cantilever spring provides an effective method of incisor movement by translation with minimal side effects.