Many degrees of severity exist.
Some patients wear elastics to achieve correction.
Growing patients may wear headgear to hold the maxilla and allow the mandible to grow forward to a Class I relationship. This is called growth modification or differential jaw growth. Non-growing patients do not benefit from growth modification and are thus more likely to need teeth extracted or jaw surgery to correct skeletal discrepancies. The important factor for a general dentist to understand is that numerous methods of treatment exist to treat a Class II malocclusion. Referral to an orthodontist during the mixed dentition stage while the patient is still growing is very beneficial to the patient.