Three-dimensional regional displacements after mandibular advancement surgery: one year of follow-up

To evaluate the association of 3-dimensional changes in the position of the condyles, rami, and chin at splint removal and 1 year after mandibular advancement surgery.

This prospective observational study used preoperative and postoperative scans of 27 subjects presenting with a skeletal Class II jaw relationship with a normal or deep overbite. An automatic technique of cranial base superimposition was used to assess the positional and/or remodeling changes in the anatomic regions of interest. The displacements were visually displayed and quantified using 3-dimensional color maps. The positive and negative values of surface distances in the color maps indicated the direction of the displacements. Pearson correlation coefficients and a linear model for correlated data were used to evaluate the association between the regional displacements.

The postoperative adaptations in the chin position between splint removal and 1 year after surgery were significantly negatively correlated with changes in the borders of the posterior ramus (left, r = -0.73, P ≤ .0001; and right, r = -0.68, P = .00) and the condyles (left, r = -0.53, P = .01; and right, r = -0.46, P = .02), indicating that these structures tended to be displaced in the same direction. Even though the mean condylar displacement with surgery was less than 1 mm, individual displacements greater than 2 mm with surgery were observed for 24% of the condyles. The condylar displacements were maintained at 1 year after surgery for 17% of the condyles.

The surface distance displacements indicated that the postoperative adaptations at different anatomic regions were significantly related.