Outcome of Orthognathic Surgery in Chinese Patients

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the outcome of orthognathic surgery by objective cephalometric measurement of posttreatment soft-tissue profile and by subjective evaluation of profile esthetics by laypersons and clinicians. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 30 Chinese patients who had completed combined orthodontic and orthognathic surgical treatment. The posttreatment cephalograms of these patients were analyzed with respect to profile convexity, facial height, and lip contours and these were compared to the previously established esthetic norms. Line drawings of the soft-tissue profile were displayed to a panel comprising six laypersons and six clinicians who scored the esthetics of each profile using a 7-point scale. Results: Complete normalization of cephalometric soft-tissue variables was not achieved with orthognathic surgery in most patients, with four of the six soft-tissue cephalometric measurements showing significant differences compared to the esthetic norms. There were good corre...