Skeletal components of class III malocclusions and compensation mechanisms

Summary The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the skeletal characteristics of sagittal maxillary and mandibular discrepancies resulting in class III malocclusions and compensation mechanisms in one Caucasian European population (Croatian). The study sample included 107 patients (63 females and 44 males), aged between 11 and 18 years of age (mean age 14·6 ± 2·2), with a class III malocclusion. Forty‐three angular and linear measurements were assessed from the pre‐treatment lateral cephalographs of each subject. anova, Tukey post hoc and t‐test were used for statistical analysis. The most common differential skeletal type was mandibular prognathism with a normal maxilla (43%), followed by maxillary retrognathism with a normal mandibular position (19·6%), while the combination of maxillary retrognathism and mandibular prognathism was found to be rare (