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SUMMARY REVIEW/ORTHODONTICS
3A| 2C| 2B| 2A| 1B| 1A|
Abstracted from
Koretsi V, Zymperdikas VF, Papageorgiou SN, Papadopoulos MA.
Treatment effects of removable functional appliances in patients with Class II malocclusion: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Orthod 2015; 37: 418-434. PMID: 25398303.
Address for correspondence: Moschos A Papadopoulos, Department of Orthodontics,
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail: [email protected]
Commentary
Class II malocclusions, due to mandibular retrognathism, occur with high frequency and are often managed using removable functional appliances (RFAs). These appliances stimulate mandibular growth by holding it forward and have been shown to benefit growing patients. However, individual contributions of skeletal and dental changes following functional appliance therapy remain controversial. This well conducted review aims to summarise the evidence regarding effectiveness of RFAs in the treatment of Class II malocclusions, compared to untreated controls, using angular measurements from lateral cephalographs.
Two authors independently undertook an exhaustive search of the literature to include major electronic databases with no limits on language, status and year of publication. Primary authors were contacted as appropriate. Since the review was to evaluate therapeutic intervention, the authors correctly limited the included studies to randomised clinical trials (RCTs) and prospective controlled clinical trials (pCCTs). Additionally, by excluding studies without or inappropriate control (n=71), the authors increased the reviews internal validity. Cochrane Collaborations risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate RCTs while modified a Downs and Black checklist1 was used to evaluate pCCTs. Inter-examiner agreement, assessed by kappa statistic, was high for...