Systematic review
Correction of Class II malocclusion with Class II elastics: A systematic review

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Introduction

Although Class II elastics have been widely used in the correction of Class II malocclusions, there is still a belief that their side effects override the intended objectives. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the true effects of Class II elastics in Class II malocclusion treatment.

Methods

A search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases, complemented by a hand search. Study eligibility criteria were the application of Class II elastics in Class II malocclusion treatment and the presentation of dental or skeletal outcomes of treatment. All age groups were included.

Results

The search indentified 417 articles, of which 11 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Four studied the isolated effects of Class II elastics, and 7 were comparisons between a single use of elastics and another method for Class II malocclusion correction. Because of the differences in treatment modalities in these articles, a meta-analysis was not possible.

Conclusions

Based on the current literature, we can state that Class II elastics are effective in correcting Class II malocclusions, and their effects are primarily dentoalveolar. Therefore, they are similar to the effects of fixed functional appliances in the long term, placing these 2 methods close to each other when evaluating treatment effectiveness. Little attention has been given to the effects of Class II elastics on the soft tissues in Class II malocclusion treatment.

Section snippets

Material and methods

With the objective to determine the most frequent uses and the main effects of Class II elastics in Class II malocclusion treatment, a search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases, complemented by a hand search, with no date limitation (Table I). The keywords were chosen with the help of a senior librarian.

To be accepted in this review, the application of Class II elastics in Class II malocclusion treatment should have been used in the clinical

Results

In total, 417 articles were retrieved. Starting from PubMed, a comparison between bases was made to eliminate duplicated articles. As a result, 162 articles were retrieved from these databases.

Among the 162 retrieved articles, 11 dealt with clinical studies of Class II elastics applied in Class II malocclusion correction. When we separated the articles based on the type of study, 4 articles fell into the category of elastics only, with Class II elastics used to treat Class II malocclusions

Discussion

The aim of this systematic review was to obtain every article on Class II elastics published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases, and by hand searching. This sort of review reduces the tendency to favor 1 particular point of view and allows acquiring all data published in the most respected journals, indexed in these databases.

From the 162 retrieved articles, only 11 met the final criteria and were selected for this review. With these data, we determined

Conclusions

Class II elastics are effective in correcting Class II malocclusions, and their effects are mainly dentoalveolar, including lingual tipping, retrusion, and extrusion of the maxillary incisors; labial tipping and intrusion of the mandibular incisors; and mesialization and extrusion of the mandibular molars. Little attention has been given to the soft-tissue effects of this treatment modality.

These effects are similar on a long-term basis to those produced by functional appliances; this places

References (36)

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The authors report no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

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