Is early Class III protraction facemask treatment effective?
Early class III orthopaedic treatment, with protraction facemask, in patients under 10 years of age, is skeletally and dentally effective in the short term and does not result in TMJ dysfunction. Seventy per cent of patients had successful treatment, defined as achieving a positive overjet. However, early treatment does not seem to confer a clinically significant psychosocial benefit.
Data support the hypothesis that augmented medial knee muscle co-contraction underpins faster progression of medial knee OA. Increased duration of lateral muscle co-contraction protected against medial cartilage loss. Exercise and biomechanical interventions to change knee muscle activation patterns provide possible candidates to slow progression of knee OA.