Prof. Letizia Perillo (MD, MS, PhD)
Letizia Perillo is full Professor and Dean of the School of Dentistry, Chair of the NEBEOP Postgraduate Orthodontic Program, Head of the Orthodontic Division at the Multidisciplinary Department of Medical-Surgical and Dental Specialties of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy.
She is Past President of the Italian Society of Orthodontics (SIDO), and of the Mediterranean Orthodontic Integration Project (MOIP). Currently, she is 2020-25 Executive Committee Member of the World Federation of Orthodontists (WFO).
She is Visiting Professor at the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and at the Alabama University, Birmingham, USA.
She is member of the WFO, AAO, EHASO, EOS, SIDO and CH Tweed Foundation, and member of the Editorial Board of several journals.
Prof. Letizia Perillo graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1986 and specialized in Orthodontics in 1989 at the University of Naples Federico II. She completed her orthodontic training with a postgraduate fellowship at the University of Michigan in 1993 and a PhD in Interceptive Orthodontics at the University of Florence in 1997.
She is author and co-author of about 300 scientific publications, 9 books and 10 chapters of books.
She is speaker at national and international courses and congresses.
Her main research topics are early treatment, non-extraction treatment, cleft lip and palate, dentofacial orthopedics and genetics.
Topic: Non-extraction treatment in mixed dentition patients: Rationale and long-term stability.
Orthodontists make every possible effort to create full smiles, and non-extraction treatments are becoming increasingly popular among patients. However, dental arch dimensional changes tend to relapse, and this instability is one of the main reasons why non-extraction treatment remains an
open question. Key factors guiding the choice between extraction and non-extraction are the amount of crowding and aesthetic concerns, and non-extraction treatment is therefore often indicated in patients with moderate, and sometimes severe, crowding who could benefit from increased lip support. This presentation focuses on the rationale for non-extraction treatment and its long-term stability.
We compared data from dental casts and lateral cephalograms of patients consecutively treated with a trans-palatal arch in the upper arch and a lip bumper in the lower arch during the mixed dentition stage followed by fixed appliances in the permanent dentition with those of an untreated matched control sample, both during treatment and at long-term follow-up. Arch widths, perimeters, and lengths as well as crowding and incisor proclination were evaluated.
In the treated group, upper and lower dimensional changes improved significantly after treatment with trans-palatal arch and lip bumper before the application of braces, whereas only minor increases were recorded after fixed appliance treatment. At long-term follow-up, all the arch widths were slightly decreased, with a 0.4 millimeter increase in crowding, considered clinically irrelevant. However, overall dental arch changes remained stable. The best predictors of relapse and long-term stability were also evaluated.