Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the soft tissue changes associated with Le Fort I surgery for maxillary repositioning.

Methods: Of 105 patients who underwent Le Fort I osteotomy, 46 met our strict inclusion criteria and were included in this study. The non-surgical control group was composed of 10 patients. These 46 patients were divided into 4 groups based on direction and amount of maxillary movement. Pre and at least 6-month post-surgical images of the patients' faces were obtained using the 3DMD photo imager, which allowed for the superimposition and manipulation of the 3D data with an accuracy of .5 mm. The pre and post surgical images were overlaid, anatomical landmarks identified, and the soft tissue measured for changes.

Results: Statistically significant changes were seen in the soft tissue when the Le Fort I surgical groups were compared to the control group that did not receive maxillary surgery. However, across the 4 different Le Fort I osteotomy groups there were no statistically significant differences. The bone to soft tissue change ratio overlaying the paranasal region which was found to be 1:0.8 in the surgical group. The second key soft tissue change was widening of the alar base width and the alar width by 1.89 and 1.88 mm respectively when the surgical procedure was performed.

Conclusions: Lack of statistically significant difference among the four Le Fort I surgical groups of this study showed that potential soft tissue changes are induced from the surgical procedure being performed and not the vector or amount of maxillary movement if adjunct surgical techniques are used to control the soft tissue changes. Furthermore, 3D analysis of soft tissue changes, using the 3dMD imager allows accurate facial analysis of the soft tissue changes induced by orthognathic surgery.

Back to the Caulk/Dentsply Competition Program
Back to the ADEA/AADR/CADR Meeting & Exhibition (March 8-11, 2006)

Top Level Search