Effects of tongue tamers and customized bonded spurs as an early treatment of anterior open bite: a randomized clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Anterior open bite is a challenging condition for pediatric dentists and orthodontists as it causes aesthetic, speech, feeding, and psychological problems; this emphasizes the need for early diagnosis and interception of this malocclusion. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of prefabricated metal-bonded tongue tamers and customized bonded spurs in the early treatment of anterior open bite. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of seventy-five children aged 7-9 years were assigned into three groups in which anterior open bite was treated using tongue tamers (group-I), customized composite bonded spurs(group-II), and conventional fixed palatal cribs (group-III). Study model and cephalometric x-ray evaluations were done before and after a three-month follow-up. Data was gathered and statistically analyzed using ANOVA and Bonferroni tests. RESULTS: Model overbite at central and lateral incisors was increased in all groups. The highest increase was found in group-I(3.16 +/- 1.17, 2.81 +/- 0.94)and group-III(3.08 +/- 1.10,2.99 +/- 1.00) though the difference was not statistically significant. Also, cephalometric overbite was non-significantly increased in all groups with a high increase in group-III(3.13 +/- 1.10). Overjet decreased in all groups, with the greatest reduction observed in group-I(-2.58 +/- 1.02 and -2.47 +/- 0.80 in model and cephalometric respectively) and was significantly different from group-II using pairwise analysis. There was a decrease in SNA and ANB in all groups with more significant improvement in groups-I(-1.20 +/- 0.88,-1.65 +/- 0.74) and -III(-1.31 +/- 0.92, -1.62 +/- 0.75) than group-II(-0.63 +/- 0.46, -0.90 +/- 0.43). Moreover, FMA measurements decreased significantly in group-I (-2.6 +/- 1.11). Regarding SNB measurement, there was a non-significant increase in all three groups with the highest increase in group-I(0.49 +/- 0.48) followed by group-III(0.34 +/- 0.63). The U1/FHP and L1/GoGn angles were non-significantly decreased in all tested groups with the highest decrease in group-I(-1.76 +/- 1.00 and-2.54 +/- 0.87 respectively). CONCLUSION: Early treatment of anterior open bite, along with tongue tamers' simplicity and aesthetics promoted the malocclusion correction and occlusal function restoration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05792553 , "Effects of Tongue Tamers as an Early Treatment of Anterior Open Bite", Retrospectively registered: 31/03/2023.