The Indirect Palatal Miniscrew Anchorage and Distalization Appliance.

The iPanda is fabricated on the patient’s working cast. An .035" round stainless steel wire is bent with a Young plier to produce a 12mm-long, 2mm-wide loop, which is then customized to create a self-locking system between the iPanda and the midpalatal miniscrew heads. This system allows easy and quick connection to and removal from the miniscrews without the need for ligatures or composite materials, thus facilitating proper oral hygiene (Fig. 2A). The self-locking system also provides three-dimensional stabilization while D of the upper molars is an important treatment option for the correction of Class II malocclusion.1,2 Although extraor intraoral devices have traditionally been used in such cases,2,3 the esthetic and social concerns associated with headgear and the undesirable anchorage loss caused by intraoral devices have prompted clinicians to investigate the possibility of using miniscrew implants as anchorage devices.4-6 Most of the miniscrew-supported intraoral appliances used to distalize the upper molars are adaptations of preexisting non-compliance devices, such as the Distal Jet* or Pendulum,** anchored to miniscrews in the paramedian palate or midpalatal suture.7-12 Although these appliances are capable of producing significant distal molar movement, they are difficult to fabricate and, when palatal acrylic buttons are used, tend to impede oral hygiene.10-12 To overcome these issues while allowing the effective use of miniscrew implants, we developed the indirect palatal miniscrew anchorage and distalization appliance (iPanda).13 The iPanda can easily be connected to and removed from midpalatal miniscrews for active distalization or indirect anchorage of the upper molars (Fig. 1). It also offers sufficient skeletal anchorage for orthodontic forced eruption or intrusion.