Evaluation of the association between tongue posture and the transverse dental compensation in Class III skeletal patients – a retrospective, record-based study

Based on the observations of skeletal Class III patients, the following conclusions can be drawn:a) The tongue assumes a lower and more anterior position than does the tongue in Class I subjects.b) The tongue-to-palate distance increases at positions D2-D5, revealing a strong association between tongue forces and buccal flaring of maxillary posterior teeth.c) Lingual tipping of mandibular posterior teeth showed a constant moderate association with tongue position at D1-D5 and was significant, but not as significant as that observed for maxillary posterior teeth. <b>Key words:</b>Tongue posture, buccolingual tooth inclination, skeletal class III, dentoalveolar compensation, soft tissues.