How to avoid surgical failures

Problems and failures in orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment are frequently discussed among colleagues, but not often written about. This lack of documentation may be attributed to a natural inclination for us to report our successes and hide our failures. More positively, we believe the lack of written material on complications probably relates more to the overwhelming success rate in these procedures than to an inclination to hide failures. In addition, some complications are clearly a result of the orthodontic care before and/or after the surgical procedure. This article concentrates on exploring the many complications in orthognathic surgery that are more a result of the orthodontic phase of care, and how the orthodontist can react to and manage surgical complications to achieve a successful result. The more the orthodontist understands the nature of surgical problems, the more able he/she is to manage them.