Orthognathic Surgery encompasses surgical manipulation of the elements that make up the facial skeleton to restore anatomical and functional proportions in patients with skeletal and dentofacial abnormalities. Orthognathic surgery is a treatment in which orthodontists and surgeons must converge. It is a work that is carried out as a team in order to optimize results, reducing complications to a manageable minimum and without sequelae. The main indications for this surgery they are the following: abnormalities of maxillomandibular development, trauma sequelae, comprehensive treatment of craniofacial syndromes, treatment of the severely edentulous patient and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Orthognathic surgery it is an invasive procedure that should only be used when strictly necessary to improve function and / or a serious cosmetic problem. Most of our patients need orthodontic treatment before or after treatment and even both because when the deformation affects the maxilla or mandible, the natural placement and occlusion of the teeth is altered. With orthodontic treatment we can align the teeth since with orthognathic surgery the bones are brought to the appropriate position and size, but corrections cannot be made in the teeth, and thus we can obtain perfect results.
The correction of maxillofacial deformities requires a careful analysis and diagnosis of the soft tissues with clinical and radiographic examination, dental and skeletal evaluation with radiographs and study models. The formulation of the treatment plan therefore requires the stomatologist, orthodontist and prosecutor. Many surgical procedures depend on numerous factors that begin long before the time of the operation, as well as control of the variables before the operation.
What types of surgery are performed?
- Mandibular protrusion correction: in many cases the problem has to do with the repression of the upper jaw, so that the surgery can focus on modifying the latter and not the lower jaw.
- Open jaw correction: To get the teeth to meet, it is usually necessary to intervene in the lower jaw to change its shape.
- Correction of the retrusion chin: the jaw is treated to achieve advancement of the chin.
- Mandibular asymmetry: If this cannot be corrected by orthodontics, one of the jaws must be modified.
- Deformity of the palate or lips: It is usually done in childhood, since it is a problem that is observed from a very young age.
