Soft to hard tissue movement ratios: orthognathic surgery in a Hispanic population

Prediction of the movement ratio of soft to hard tissues is an important part of an orthodontic and orthognathic treatment plan. Previous studies have shown that various ethnic populations have significantly different average cephalometric measurements when compared to European-American norms. Therefore, a difference may exist in soft to hard tissue movement ratios in different ethnic populations. This study was undertaken to create norms for soft to hard tissue movement ratios for orthognathic surgery in a Hispanic population. These results were compared to previously published data on European-American populations. Presurgical and postsurgical cephalographs were traced and analyzed. The data were divided into 3 groups based on the surgical procedure performed: maxillary surgery alone, mandibular surgery alone, and treatment with a combination of maxillary and mandibular surgery. The results indicate that differences exist in soft to hard tissue ratios between the European-American and Hispanic populations. It is important to incorporate ratios for patients of Hispanic descent into a treatment planning protocol so that these patients are treated appropriately.