Refined intraoperative repositioning of the osteotomized maxilla in relation to the skull and TMJ

In dysgnathic patients, who have to be treated by surgical repositioning of the jaws, the necessary bone movements are predicted preoperatively with the help of sophisticated analysis. A high degree of accuracy, could not however be transferred to the patient, because of lack of an operative procedure as accurate as the preplanning. In this paper a face-bow is described, provided with an interocclusal splint that has been adjusted beforehand on an articulator, in a model operation taking into account the skull and TMJ relationship. Using this face-bow-splint combination the possibility of greater accuracy in transferring the preplanned movements to the patient is facilitated. The computerized preplanning, the model operation and the technical procedure as well as the operation itself are described, step by step.