Journal of Dentistry and Oral Care

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the skeletal and dento-alveolar effects of the Rick-A-Nator appliance in the treatment of growing patients with skeletal Class II malocclusion due to retrusive mandible. Methods: 13 Class II growing patients with mandibular retrusion and between the ages of 9 years and 12 years were selected to be included in this study. Control group for the treated group was generated from growth data of untreated Class II subjects. Pre-treatment and post-treatment lateral cephalometric radiographs were traced and analyzed. Changes in the treated group were compared to those in the control group. Results: The mandibular length was highly significantly increased by 2.44 mm. The mandibular incisors were proclined by distance of 4.54 mm. The overjet was highly significantly reduced by 4.25 mm. The molar relation was significantly corrected by 3.62 mm. While the overbite was reduced from a mean of 75.43% before treatment to a mean of 21.16% after treatment. Conclusions: The Rick-A-Nator appliance was effective in treatment of Class II malocclusion with deficient mandible. Significant reduction of the overjet and the overbite were associated with the Rick-A-Nator treatment. *Corresponding author: Shaza M. Hammad, Associate Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Mansoura University, Egypt, E-mail: [email protected] Citation: Hammad, S.M., et al. Skeletal and Dento-Alveola Reffects of the Rick-A-Nator Appliance in Early Stage Correction of Class II Malocclusion. (2016) J Dent Oral Care 2(3): 18. J Dent Oral Care | Volume 2: Issue 3 Introduction Class II malocclusion is the most common problem in orthodontic practice which represents one-third of the population. It has various skeletal and dental configurations[1]. Mc Namara concluded that the most common single characteristic of class II malocclusions is a deficiency in the anteroposterior position of the mandible rather than maxillary prognathism[2]. Consequently a treatment approach aiming at mandibular growth modification and redirection is indicated in this patients[3]. A wide range of removable and fixed functional appliances have been developed. These appliances aimed to induce forward growth of the mandible by anterior positioning of it and forcing the patient to function with lower jaw forward[1]. The removable functional appliances demand patient cooperation for the success of the treatment; tend to be bulky and take some time to get used to. Consequently, the fixed functional appliances have been introduced to overcome disadvantages of removable functional appliances[4]. They are effective without depending on patient’s collaboration and multi-bracket therapy can be used; hence the treatment time is shorter[5,6]. The Rick-A-Nator is a fixed functional appliance. It is introduced as an alternative to removable functional appliances. It is claimed to be an effective functional appliance that treat mandibular and vertical deficiencies. The main advantage of the RickA-Nator appliance is its independence on patient cooperation. It is also compact and less bulky; this improves patient comfort and speech. In addition, it is virtually invisible, which increase patient acceptance[7]. The Rick-A-Nator (Figure 1) consists of two molar bands on the upper first permanent molars and an anterior acrylic bite plate which is fabricated from self-cure acrylic resin. This anterior bite plane is converted into an anterior repositioning appliance by the addition of acrylic incisal ramp. The acrylic incisal ramp engages the lingual of the anterior teeth and so, the lower teeth bite into a forward bite relationship. The anterior inclined plane guides the mandible forward into a class I relationship as the patient closes. The anterior acrylic is connected to the molar bands by 0.045 stainless steel connector wires. Rests can be added on primary molars Skeletal and Dento-Alveolar effects of the Rick-A-Nator Appliance in Early Stage Correction of Class II Malocclusion Copyrights: © 2016 Hammad, S.M. This is an Open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 1 Shaza M. Hammad*, Sahar M. Ahmed, Ahmed M. Hafez Received date: April 29, 2016 Accepted date: August 10, 2016 Published date: August 15, 2016 Hammad, S.M., et al. DOI: 10.15436/2379-1705.16.896