Outcome of orthognathic surgery in Chinese patients. A subjective and objective evaluation

To evaluate the outcome of orthognathic surgery by objective cephalometric measurement of posttreatment soft-tissue profile and by subjective evaluation of profile esthetics by laypersons and clinicians.

The sample consisted of 30 Chinese patients who had completed combined orthodontic and orthognathic surgical treatment. The posttreatment cephalograms of these patients were analyzed with respect to profile convexity, facial height, and lip contours and these were compared to the previously established esthetic norms. Line drawings of the soft-tissue profile were displayed to a panel comprising six laypersons and six clinicians who scored the esthetics of each profile using a 7-point scale.

Complete normalization of cephalometric soft-tissue variables was not achieved with orthognathic surgery in most patients, with four of the six soft-tissue cephalometric measurements showing significant differences compared to the esthetic norms. There were good correlations in the esthetic scores between laypersons and clinicians, even though clinicians tend to rate the profiles more favorably. Facial convexity and facial height did not significantly influence the subjective scores of both the laypersons and clinicians. Lower lip protrusion was the only cephalometric variable that significantly influenced clinicians' assessment of profile esthetics (P<.01).

Profile convexity and lower facial height proportion had little influence on both lay and professional perception of profile esthetics. Lower lip position is the only cephalometric variable that significantly influenced clinicians' assessment of profile esthetics.