Orthognathic surgery and the family dentist

In general, orthognathic surgery is a reliable, appropriate and prudent treatment option to correct maxillofacial deformities that cannot be managed by nonsurgical means alone. Unfavorable outcomes are relatively rare, but the statistical frequency of these complications loses its meaning in those cases where they occur. If a complication happens to an individual patient, it represents a one-hundred per cent incidence for that individual. For this reason, prior to the provision of treatment it is vitally important to obtain informed consent, ideally by establishing the widest possible information base on which meaningful communication can be built for the patient, the orthodontist, the surgeon, and the family dentist.