Surgical and Camouflage Orthodontic Treatment of Anterior Open Bite: Comparison of Profile Attractiveness.

Objective: To evaluate the profile's attractiveness between the different protocols for treating the anterior open bite.

Methods: The sample comprised 39 patients with anterior open bite treated with or without extractions, divided into two groups: The surgical group (G1) comprised 21 subjects (10 males, 11 females) with a mean initial age of 21.86 years (SD = 5.09), treated with fixed orthodontic appliance followed by orthognathic surgery, for a total mean period of 2.53 years (SD = 0.61). The mean overbite was -5.01 mm (SD = 2.50); The camouflaged group (G2) comprised 18 subjects (9 males, 9 females), with a mean initial age of 20.47 years (SD = 4.19), treated only with fixed orthodontic appliance, for a total mean period of 2.56 years (SD = 0.94). The mean overbite was -4.28 mm (SD = 1.15). Lateral photographs from pretreatment and posttreatment were used. These photographs were evaluated by 46 laypeople and 67 dentists, who rated the attractiveness of each profile from 0 (most unattractive profile) to 10 (most attractive profile). Intergroup comparisons were performed with independent t-tests.

Results: Both groups presented improvement in the profile attractiveness with treatment (p < 0.001). Before treatment, the profile of the surgical group was significantly less attractive than the profile of the camouflaged group (p < 0.001). The surgical presented a more attractive profile at the final stage than the camouflaged group (p < 0.001). The surgical group showed a greater improvement in profile attractiveness with treatment than the camouflaged group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: In the final stage, the surgical presented a more attractive and greater improvement in profile attractiveness than the camouflaged group. The laypeople and dentists judged similarly the initial profile attractiveness.