Objective: Class II1 patients seek orthodontic treatment with general esthetic complaints, as well as problems in the bite and periodontal tissues. Often resolving the occlusal issues, together with obtaining optimal esthetic results is hard to achieve in terms of patient satisfaction. The objective of the current study was to establish the criteria, which both satisfy patient expectations and resolve the orthodontic problem completely.
Methods: A total of 74 male and female patients, age 12-25 with Class II1, orthodontically treated in Orthodontics Department of the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Sofia were investigated. The control group consisted of 37 males and females, age 12-25, and Class I, with no preliminary orthodontic treatment. Soft tissue parameters before and after treatment were analyzed: nasolabial angle, position of lips and chin. All subjects in the study group were interviewed in terms of their satisfaction of the treatment outcome. The control group subjects had to evaluate their profile esthetics and point out the changes they would prefer in their profile, despite lack of orthodontic problem.
Results: Results proved that the changes of the profile esthetics after orthodontic treatment have extensive differences in terms of profile harmony. The majority of patients show favor of facial esthetics that is not always in concurrence with achieved optimal occlusal relationships.
Conclusions: The individual perception of facial esthetics focuses the attention to more thorough investigations of establishing the parameters for optimal individual norm for each patient.