The effect of orthodontic treatment on the functional status of the masticatory system was analysed in 706 children from three Danish communities. Three-hundred-and-eighty-eight (48 per cent) of the children were treated orthodontically and the 295 (37 per cent) of the total population had terminated the treatment and were included in the analysis. Fifty-seven cases (7.1%) of the total population were discontinued before the orthodontic treatment was considered finished by the orthodontist. Discontinuation did not, however, seem to influence the functional status. Increasing the orthodontic treatment frequency from 38 to 51 per cent did not decrease the functional problems of a young population. On the contrary, the community with the lowest treatment frequency (38 per cent) demonstrated fewer functional problems among the orthodontically treated subjects than did the two communities with higher treatment frequencies, indicating paradoxically that it may be a functional risk to treat the last 13 per cent with minor discrepancies. Tenderness on palpation of the musculature and the TMJ capsule were generally more prevalent among orthodontically treated subjects. Children who had their treatments performed by either orthodontist or paedodontist alone demonstrated more muscular problems than children who had been treated by a team of orthodontists and paedodontists. Related to the severity of the malocclusion these findings stress the importance of more consideration to establish a functionally satisfactory occlusion after orthodontic treatment. Functional status was not related to the type of orthodontic treatment, including extraction therapy, use of either fixed or removable appliances.