Augmentation genioplasty as an adjunct to conservative orthodontic treatment

Augmentation genioplasty can serve as a valuable adjunct to orthodontic treatment. The borderline extraction patient with a good nasolabial angle, protruding lower incisors and a deficient chin often can be treated better by nonextraction orthodontics followed by advancement of the chin than by any regimen involving orthodontic extraction. Genioplasty also can be used to improve facial esthetics in the patient with a short mandibular ramus in whom mandibular advancement might well lead to unstable results. In some instances, genioplasty may be a way to overcome the appearance of facial asymmetry without requiring jaw surgery which would complicate a pre-existing adequate occlusion. As a relatively straightforward and predictable procedure, augmentation genioplasty should be used more often in conjunction with orthodontic treatment than it has been in the past.