Treatment effects of posterior bite blocks for correction of skeletal anterior open bite in growing patients. A systematic review

• Author Details:   
• Kaustubh Dnyaneshwar Chandwale ^*
• Suryakant Narsing Powar
• Gopinath Kallampilly
• Sumeet Ghonmode
• Prafull Parchake

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Objective: Posterior bite blocks (PBB) are commonly used to treat anterior open bite in mixed dentition to take advantage of the active growth for producing faster and more stable results. PBB impedes posterior teeth eruption and their design has been continuously modified. The present review aims to bring information on the effectiveness of different types of bite blocks for an open bite in growing patients.

Materials and Methods: An electronic search of 4 databases was performed from January 1, 1985 to July 30, 2021. Studies were considered for inclusion if they reported on open bite samples that underwent orthodontic treatment in the mixed dentition. Records were required at the initial and posttreatment times. Hand-searching of reference lists of the included studies was performed. The methodological quality of individual selected studies was done using the risk-of-bias assessment tool as elaborated in Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Review of Interventions (version 5.4.0).Result: The search strategy resulted in 467 articles. After selection according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 5 articles qualified for the final review analysis. The qualified articles include 5 RCTs. A total sample of 137 patients was analyzed in analysis with ages ranging from 7 to 14 years.

Conclusion: Although the quality of evidence for treatment of open bite with bite block and its modification is not high, all included five studies reported both dental and skeletal correction of open bite. Prospero registration no. CRD42021270606.

Keyword: Anterior open bite, Posterior bite block, Growing patient, Bites, Open bite, Magnetic bite block, Spring loaded bite block