Comparing the Impact of Rubber Bands on Teeth Straightening with Clear Aligners Versus Traditional Braces: a Clinical Study

"For the Fixed Appliance group, the straight wire treatment included an aligning and leveling phase, achieved by using Nickel-Titanium arches (0.016/0.019 × 0.025 arc sequence) and a phase with heavier stainless steel rectangular arches (0.019 × 0.025); during this last treatment phase patients were instructed to use Class II elastics for at least 16 h/day.~Pre- (T0) and post-treatment (T1) lateral cephalogram were collected from all selected patients. Treatment time was an average of 18 months (T1-T0=18 months)."

"Class II malocclusion is the most common malocclusion, and it is one of the main reasons for people to undergo orthodontic treatment. This alteration is characterized by an improper relationship between the maxillary and mandibular arches because of skeletal or dental discrepancies or a combination of both . The treatment protocols may considerably vary depending on professional skills, malocclusion severity and patient compliance . Among all the well-known techniques, it is important to mention the Class II elastics , used to camouflage mild skeletal Class II or to treat mild to moderate Class II occlusal relationship.~During the correction of Class II malocclusions by means of inter-arch elastics, special attention should be paid to the position of the lower incisors."