STABILITY OF THE SURGERY-ONLY ORTHOGNATHIC APPROACH IN CLASS III PATIENTS WITH MAXILLARY RETROGNATHIA

Introduction : The aim was to compare the stability of the surgery-only approach (SOA, indicating surgery without orthodontics) to the orthodontics-first approach (OFA; orthodontics followed by surgery) in patients with dentofacial deformities. Methods : All ten patients who underwent SOA and 10 OFA were included. Cephalometric radiographs were taken before surgery (T0), and six months after SOA or OFA(T2). The actual maxillary movement was measured intraoperatively (T1). The difference between T2-T0 and T1 is accepted as relapse. Each cephalometric film was analyzed using specialized software and the stability of actual advancement was analyzed. Results : Difference of relapse amount between SOA and OFA groups was statistically significant (p=0.016). Conclusion : Although the stability of SOA was less than OFA, the amount of advancement was higher in SOA.