Soft tissue profile changes following mandibular advancement surgery: predictability and long-term outcome

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
• Surgical Orthodontics
• Cephalometric Analysis

Background:

• Mandibular retrognathism often requires surgical correction.
• Understanding soft tissue profile changes after mandibular advancement is crucial for treatment outcomes.
• Cephalometric analysis provides quantitative data on skeletal and soft tissue movements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate long-term soft tissue profile alterations after mandibular advancement surgery.
• To determine the correlation between hard tissue (skeletal) and soft tissue movements.
• To develop improved prediction ratios for postsurgical soft tissue changes.

Main Methods:

• Cephalometric study of 61 patients undergoing mandibular advancement surgery.
• Data collected at six time points: pre-surgery to 3 years post-surgery.
• Analysis of upper/lower lip and mentolabial fold changes in relation to skeletal movements and facial angles.

Main Results:

• Postsurgical soft tissue changes were more significant in low-angle facial types.
• Soft tissue chin and mentolabial fold generally mirrored skeletal movements (1:1 ratio).
• Skeletal relapse significantly impacts soft tissue profile stability.

Conclusions:

• Long-term soft tissue profile changes after mandibular advancement are influenced by skeletal dynamics.
• A 1:1 ratio is insufficient for predicting long-term soft tissue outcomes due to relapse.
• Ratios incorporating mean skeletal relapse provide more realistic predictions for postsurgical soft tissue profiles.