In 1895 Edward Angle, a mid-North American dentist, published a book on the classification of bad bites - a term he latinised and popularised as malocclusion.

Classifying incisal relationship in the bad bite is made in profile and only of the relative positions upper and lower central incisors.

It is considered a traumatic bite in that it accelerates wear and abnormal acquired incisal form, and unaesthetic smile development.

They are also the dominant pattern of dental crowding leading to orthodontic premolar extractions, and later impacted wisdom teeth removal by oral surgeons.

The Angle classification is merely a means of describing common states or forms or patterns of adolescent dental crowding.

Thus the development of malocclusion and of dental crowding have come to be rationalised as distinct conditions defined by what was originally an arbitrary and simple 19th century classification.

As the myth of the veracity of the classification system became entrenched more formally as orthodontic diagnoses, orthodontists attempted to apply epidemiological study as to why these patterns may exist or have become prevalent in modern society.

Malocclusion classifications of dental crowding are in fact diagnostic or disease states, and exist mostly and independently of any other medical condition 2.

That being a disease, and that malocclusion and dental crowding is a feature of tooth number redundancy, or oversize of permanent teeth, that epidemiological studies of the natural rates of the various classification states can be made.

However, the Herbst is considerably more expensive and demonstrated a higher breakage rate so that the benefits of reduced compliance requirements must be balanced against this.

[24] Headgear exerts force to the dentition and basal bones via extra-oral traction attached directly to bands on the teeth or to a maxillary splint or functional appliance.

[25] Several studies found an additional small effect on mandibular growth when headgear is used in conjunction with an anterior bite plane.

However, headgear is highly reliant on good patient compliance, with 12−14 hours a day of wearing required to achieve the effects described.

Fixed appliances can be used alone or in combination with extractions or temporary anchorage devices to retract the maxillary teeth to correct a Class II division 1 malocclusion by dental means only.

[5] Functional appliances: The first reported use of a mandibular positioning device was the 'Monobloc' by Dr Robin, in France in 1902, for neonates with under-developed mandibles.