Management of post-traumatic malocclusion: an alternative treatment

Post-traumatic malocclusion is one of the most common complications following closed treatment of condylar fractures. Depending on the severity of the malocclusion, most clinicians choose an orthodontic and/or surgical treatment plan. In this technical note, an alternative non-surgical procedure for managing malocclusion complications associated with closed treatment of condylar fractures is presented. Four patients with post-traumatic malocclusion following conservative treatment were referred to our centre in 2013 and 2014. In all these patients, hypomochlions (hypo – small; mochlos – lever) or occlusal stops were used to modulate the feedback mechanism that had developed in patients with a post-traumatic malocclusion. After removal of the occlusal stops and a period of physiotherapy, a stable functional occlusion was achieved within a timeframe of 6 weeks in all patients. This result indicates that post-traumatic malocclusion complications following conservative (closed) treatments can be successfully resolved without the need for further invasive surgical procedures.