Evaluation of the nose profile after maxillary advancement with impaction surgeries

The aim of this study was to identify and quantify nasal profile changes following maxillary advancement (MA) and maxillary advancement with impaction (MAI) with Le Fort I osteotomies.

The study consisted of preoperative and postoperative lateral cephalograms of 42 class III adult patients. The study sample was divided into 2 groups, with the first group composed of 22 patients who underwent MA surgery and the second group composed of 20 patients who underwent MAI surgery. In total, 7 skeletal parameters and 17 soft-tissue parameters related to nasal projection, hump, dorsal convexity, and the nasolabial region were evaluated on the cephalograms, and hard- and soft-tissue relationships were assessed.

Nasal length, hump, nasal depths, distance from the most convex point of the Alar curvature to the most inferior point of the nostril, alar curvature-subnasale, and subnasale-pronasale measurements decreased postoperatively. In the MAI group, MA correlated with significant decreases in nasal length and hump. In the MA group, MA correlated with pronasale position (P < 0.05); significant decreases in nasal depth, columella convexity, and subnasale-pronasale length; and significant changes in subnasale position.

There is little difference in the effects of the 2 different maxillary surgeries on the postoperative nasal profile.