Musculoskeletal Changes as a Sequel to Advancement Genioplasty: A Long-Term Cephalometric Prospective Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate cephalometrically the stability of hard tissues and soft tissue changes of advancement genioplasty 2 years after surgery.

A prospective study was conducted which comprised of 25 patients, who underwent advancement genioplasty alone with no other orthognathic surgical procedures. Immediate pre-operative, 6 months postoperative, and 2 years postoperative lateral cephalograms were compiled and assessed.

The mean surgical advancement planned was around 8 mm. Six months post-surgery, the relapse rate was 15% of the surgical advancement which was considerably reduced in the following 18 months to 7%. The ratio of soft tissue to bony advancement at pogonion was 0.9:1. There are significant alterations in the soft tissue profile in terms of decrease in the soft tissue thickness, facial convexity angle, deepened mentolabial sulcus and minimal increase in the lower lip height.

Advancement genioplasty was considered as a relatively stable procedure, if adequate muscular pedicle and internal rigid fixation were maintained. The present study was of 2 years, and we can expect further changes in the hard and soft tissues, which are clinically irrelevant.