Effectiveness of different protocols of Class II treatment: a retrospective study

Abstract
Class II treatment is one of the most important tasks of modern orthodontics, but opinions are di-vided on the advantage of the 1-stage over the 2-stage method.

Aim
The aim of our study was to compare the effectiveness of the treatment with regard to changes in dental and skeletal parameters and taking into account the duration of treatment.

Material and methods
The data from 180 patients (96F, 84M) were collected in the study. Depending on the growth phase, the patients were treated with the 2-stage method, with the use of functional appliances in stage 1 and fixed appliances in stage 2, and with the 1-stage method with the use of fixed appliances and skeletal anchorage. Dental and skeletal parameters were determined in all patients on the basis of cephalograms taken before and after treatment.

Results
There were statistically significant differences within and between groups (p <.05). Two-stage treatment with the use of Twin-Block in combination with high-pull headgear in the first stage improved the skeletal parameters to the greatest extent and reduced the need for absolute anchorage in stage 2, while the one-stage treatment with skeletal anchorage and extractions of the second upper molars allowed the most time-efficient treatment of the malocclusion. Compared to the 1-stage treatment, the 2-stage treatment shortened the treatment time with fixed appliances significantly

Conclusions
When deciding on a 1-stage or 2-stage treatment, one should also take into account the patients' expectations regarding the willingness only to improve the alignment of the teeth or to improve the entire profile.