The Royal London Space Planning: an integration of space analysis and treatment planning: Part I: Assessing the space required to meet treatment objectives

The Royal London Space Planning process has evolved since 1985 to ensure a disciplined approach to diagnosis and treatment planning and to provide a record to justify treatment decisions for professional accountability. The analysis takes into consideration most aspects of a given malocclusion and aims to quantify the space required in each dental arch to attain the treatment objectives. Space planning also helps determine whether the objectives are likely to be attainable and helps in the planning of treatment mechanics and the control of anchorage. The process of analysis is divided into 2 sections. The first part consists of assessing the original malocclusion according to various component parts, any of which may have an effect on space if altered during treatment. These components are crowding and spacing, occlusal curves, arch width, anteroposterior position of labial segments, mesiodistal angulation, and incisor inclination. The second part of the analysis, which will be published in a separate article, deals with the effect of treatment procedures, such as extractions, tooth-size modifications, distal or mesial molar movements, as well as natural growth, on the space required. Space planning should be regarded only as a useful guide, as many areas of orthodontics-including growth, biological response, and patient compliance-cannot be controlled with total accuracy.