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The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the use of photographs taken in the natural head position (NHP) as a tool to evaluate the effects of functional appliances on clinical soft tissue profile configuration. It was further aimed to evaluate the interrelation between changes in hard and soft tissue structures. Our maternai consisted of photo graphs, lateral cephalometric and hand-wrist radiographs of 8 (5 girls and 3 boys) skeletal Class 2 children treated by activator. Material was collected at.preobservation, pretreatment, Angle Class I molar relationship and posttreatment periods. Repeated measure analyses and Duncan’s tests were used to evaluate the changes in cephalometric and photographic parameters at different periods. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to test the associations between hard and soft tissue changes during treatment. It was concluded that, use of photographs taken in the NHP may have significant advantages in the evaluation of soft tissue profile configuration. As expected, statistically significant changes were obtained both in cephalometric and photographice measurements during treatment. A correction of skeletal Class 2 discrepancy was observed together with a reduction in clinical soft tissue profile convexity and an improvement in labiomental curvature. However, these changes in hard and soft tissue structures were not found to be related to each other.

In the present study to investigate the regions of compensation mechanisms in dento-maxillo-facial system involved for the prevention of anterior open-bite in high-angle skeletal class 2 growing cases, 17 subjects with skeletal and dental open-bite were compared with 17 subjects showing skeletal open-bite but a mean overbite of 2.12 ± 0.50 mm. In cephalometric comparison of two groups in regard with maxillo-facial morphology and dentoalveolar structural characteristics; among the cranial, maxillary, mandibular, maxillo-mandibuhr, facial height and dental parameters, gonial angle, cant of ramus, effective length of the mandible, lower anterior facial height, and anterior facial height, posterior facial height, overbite, upper and lower posterior vertical dentoalveolar height, upper anterior vertical dentoalveolar height and inclination of the upper incisors showed statistically significant differences between the groups.