Comparative study of the activators and prefabricated functional appliances effects in interceptive treatment of Class II

The effectiveness of growth activators and functional prefabricated appliances in improving class II and reducing over jet and overbite was proved. However, their dento-skeletel effects have long been controverted. We have proposed to compare, through a prospective clinical study, the skeletal and dento-alveolar effects of growth activators and functional prefabricated appliances and to propose therapeutic guidelines on the choice of the best device according to clinical situations. Materials and methods: It is a prospective clinical study of 37 patients with skeletal and dental class II; 20 treated by Andersen activators and 17 by functional prefabricated appliances. Clinical and cephalometric parameters were collected through clinical and radiological examination and statistical analysis was conducted. Results: The results of this study showed that statistically the moderation of the skeletal class II obtained by the effect of the activator is similar to that obtained by the prefabricated functional appliances and it is the result of skeletal action. No statistically significant difference was found in terms of overjet and overbite reduction and improvement of the inter-maxillary relationship. Conclusion: This study shows that the two appliances are effective in skeletal class II correction and overjet reduction with more important action of activators in promoting mandibular growth.