Esthetic assessment of class III patients before and after surgical treatment according to the divine proportion

Abstract

This study was designed to aesthetically assess class III patients before and after surgical treatment according to the divine proportion. Class III or mesio-occlusion, is characterized by the mesial relationship of the mandibular dental arch with respect to the maxillary dental arch taking as reference the mesial buccal cusp of the upper fi rst molar which occludesmesial to groove of the lower fi rst molar. This pathology greatly compromises facial esthetics and psychosocial status and adversely affects the self-esteem of those who suffer from it. It is one of the most diffi cult challenges that the clinician can face; if left untreated it can progress to a degree so severe, that in most cases, the only treatment option is orthognathic surgery in adulthood. Surgical techniques had their origin in the twentieth century from then on, they have been modified into versatile and predictable methods for the correction of maxillofacial malformations. The aesthetic problem is the main reason for consultation in orthodontics. The divine proportion is being studied more and more every day for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes related to facial aesthetics. Materials and methods: Twenty patients were included in the sample for this study. Pre and post-treatment cephalograms and photographs (scale 1.1) were obtained. Seven angular measurements were taken from the pre/post-treatment cephalograms and seven linear measurements were obtained from frontal photographs. Results: An inter-class correlation coeffi cient was conducted as calibration analysis in the measured proportions as well as a Student’s t-test for related samples. Conclusions: It was considered that in twenty-eight studied measurements, sixteen presented a statistically signifi cant difference approximating to the golden number after surgical treatment in class III patients.Key words: Divine proportion, class III patients, surgical treatment.