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Aim: To evaluate pharyngeal airway space changes on lateral cephalometric radiographs before and after orthodontic therapy without orthognathic surgery. Additionally, the difference between several orthodontic treatment methods and several dental and skeletal malocclusions was also studied. Design: Retrospective case series Materials and methods: This study retrospectively analyzes the pharyngeal airway space changes on lateral cephalograms in patients treated in the Department of Orthodontics of University Hospitals Leuven between the years 2008 and 2020. Patients treated with fixed appliances, removable appliances and/or functional appliances with a lateral cephalogram available before and after treatment were included. Cephalometric tracing of the lateral radiographs before and after treatment was performed. The pharyngeal airway was defined as the diameter of the airway behind the base of the tongue, following the method described by Pirilä-Parkkine et al. The sample was further divided according to (A) initial malocclusion and (B) type of orthodontic treatment used (namely transversal expansion, extraction and functional treatment (activator or headgear)). Changes were statistically compared by using software package IBM SPSS statistics. Results: The registered data of the 77 patients that could be recruited includes: age at start and end of the treatment, duration of the treatment, gender, type of dental and/or skeletal malocclusion and orthodontic treatment modalities used. Significant changes in pharyngeal airway space were found before and after orthodontic treatment in the investigated sample (PNS-Ad2 (p<0.001), PNS-Ad1 (p=0.002), Va1-Va2 (p<0.001) and PNS-U1 (p<0.001)). These changes were more evident in Class II malocclusions post treatment. No major discrepancies were demonstrated between different malocclusions or between orthodontic therapies. Maxillary expansion demonstrated an effect in PNS-Ad2 (p=0.039) and treatment with headgear yielded a moderate change in PNS-U1 (p=0.046). Conclusions: Evidence of discrete pharyngeal airway space changes after orthodontic therapy has been found in the present study. The limitations of 2D assessment of 3D airway structures may have concealed the effects of the therapy. Further research with 3D images could throw some light in the relation between orthodontic treatment and the upper airway volume.