Does muscular activity related to vertical facial divergence influence the time needed for orthodontic extrusion of palatally impacted maxillary canines? A retrospective study

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the different muscular activity correlated to different degrees of facial divergence has an effect on the time needed to extrude a palatally impacted maxillary canine. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-six patients were retrospectively selected, all treated with a specific cantilever appliance that allows extrusion of the impacted canine applying a physiologic amount of force below 0.6 N in a predictable way. For all the patients, pre-treatment cephalometric tracings were used to evaluate facial divergence through the FMA angle, the angle between the maxillary and mandibular plane, and the angles between the occlusal plane and either the maxillary and mandibular plane. Linear bivariate regression was calculated to evaluate if facial divergence can predict the time needed for canine extrusion. RESULTS: The linear regression model was not able to predict extrusion time from variables explaining the facial divergence. CONCLUSIONS: Palatally impacted maxillary canines can be treated with the application of physiologic extrusion force regardless of patients’ facial divergence and muscular activity. Key words:Impacted canines, cantilever, facial divergence, muscular activity.