We would like to thank the Editor for the opportunity to respond to Dr Masoud's letter commenting on our article, “Amount and Direction of Temporomandibular Joint Growth Changes in Herbst Treatment” published in The Angle Orthodontist 2003;73:493–501.

We completely agree with Dr Masoud that we don't know if the fossa would have ended up in a position even further inferior and posterior at T4 (3 years after treatment) if it weren't for the Herbst appliance. To know this we would have needed a T4 control group, which we, regretfully, did not have. Our control group did only cover the active Herbst treatment period (T1-T2).

But still we think that our conclusion is valid when saying: “The amount and direction of TMJ changes (condylar growth, glenoid fossa displacement, and effective TMJ changes) were affected favorably, although only temporarily, in an anterior direction by Herbst treatment.” Thus, we don't say anything about the final (long-term) outcome of therapy on condylar growth and fossa position.