Differential diagnosis between disjunction and expansion according to the Ricketts frontal study

Abstract

Orthodontics remains in constant evolution of techniques and methods of detecting diagnosis and treatments. Among the existing malocclusions, crossbite and atretic dental arches are common situations in the clinical life of a dental surgeon. Findings in studies point to a variation between 9.11% and 42.01%, making posterior crossbite the most prevalent malocclusion. The decision to disjoin or expand for correction of posterior crossbite, it is restricted to the clinical observation of the Monson curve, whether positive, indicating the need for palatal disjunction; or negative, indicating the need for dentoalveolar expansion, and intercanine and intermolar measurements. Ricketts, however, adds the importance of studying the bone bases in the transverse direction from the anterior posteroradiography, where it is possible to diagnose more precisely whether the transverse problem is skeletal, dental or a combination of both situations. That's why, the present work aims to present the method of differential diagnosis between disjunction and expansion in posterior crossbite malocclusions, according to Ricketts frontal cephalometry.