Distalization of the upper molars with the Pend-X appliance: a pilot study with panoramic radiographs

Omar Gabriel da SILVA FILHO, Eduardo César Almada SANTOS, Ângela Priscila Junqueira de Lima SILVA, André Pinheiro de Magalhães BERTOZ

Aim: the current study focuses on the immediate unilateral distalization of the upper molars with the unilateral Pend-X appliance. Methods: in three adolescent patients in the permanent dentition with Class II subdivision 1 malocclusion, the TMA loop was placed in the right side. Therefore, the first and second upper right molars were distalized with the Pend-X appliance. Panoramic radiographs taken before and after distalization were used to measure the mesiodistal axial inclination of the upper molars and the results were compared to those obtained with the bilateral Pend-X. Results and Conclusion the findings show that the left molars kept their original mesiodistal inclination, suggesting that the anchorage was maintained, whilst the right molars were partially inclined in a distal direction, similarly to what occurs when conventional Pend-X is used to distalize molars bilaterally. The first molars showed an 11.5º distal inclination while the second molars presented a 21º distal inclination.

Keywords: Pend-X appliance. Class II malocclusion. Distalization. Unilateral distalization. Dentofacial deformities.

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