Soft Tissue Cephalometric Changes in Class I Patients Treated with Extraction and Non Extraction Modalities

Background : Extractions are frequently used to treat crowding, protrusion of teeth and the soft tissue covering. The common consequences of extraction therapy were believed to be “dished-in profiles”, constriction of dental arch, and increased width of the buccal corridor space, whereas non extraction treatment results in poor stability and protrusive profile in borderline cases. Aim: Aim of the present study was to compare the cephalometric soft tissue changes between Class I malocclusion patients who were treated with first premolar extractions and Class I malocclusion patients who were treated with non extraction with similar appliances. Methods and Material: It is a retrospective study were the treatment records of 50 (25: extraction and 25: non extraction) orthodontic patients with Angles and skeletal Class I malocclusion of age between 13-30 years were randomly selected. Both pre and post treatment lateral cephalograms were traced manually and soft tissue changes were measured and analyzed between extraction & non- extraction group. Statistical analysis: Independent samples t test, Paired-t test. Results: Within extraction group, Angle of convexity, Upper lip to e-line, lower lip to e-line, nose prominence and interlabial gap are the parameters which has shown statistically significant(p=.000*)difference after the treatment and within the non extraction group upper lip thickness was the only parameter which has shown statistically significant (p=.005*) difference after the treatment. The remaining parameters have not shown any significant difference Conclusions: Profile improvement was better with extraction protocol compared to non-extraction therapy. Lip competence was better achieved with extraction therapy Overall the choice of the treatment modality depends on the severity of the problem.