Surgical Orthodontic Treatment for Skeletal Class I with Facial Asymmetry and Occlusal Cant: A Case Report

Background: Cases of facial asymmetry with chin deviation and canted occlusal plane represent a challenge in orthodontic treatment. Case Report: We report successful surgical orthodontic treatment for skeletal Class I with severe facial asymmetry. Miniscrew anchorage was used to decompensate the canted occlusal plane in presurgical orthodontic treatment with a fixed appliance by the intrusion of the maxillary right molars and extrusion of the left molars. Then, orthognathic surgery consisting of bilateral sagittal split osteotomy for asymmetric mandibular setback was performed. Treatment resulted in marked improvement of facial asymmetry. Conclusion: The use of miniscrew implant anchorage may represent a superior presurgical orthodontic treatment and expand the possibility of treatment by one-jaw surgery.

CD34 and CD105 Microvessels in Resected Bone Specimen May Implicate Wound Healing in MRONJ

Clinical treatment outcome of MRONJ (medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw) surgery despite radical osseous removal and primary closure healing still shows differences in terms of outcome and disease recurrence. The study aims to assess the rate of angiogenesis of MRONJ lesions in order to understand the impact of angiogenesis and neoangiogenesis status on MRONJ surgical treatment outcome. This is the first study correlating microvessel density with prognosis in MRONJ surgically-treated patients. The immunohistochemical expression of CD34 and CD105 in MRONJ specimens obtained from surgically-treated patients was evaluated. The most vascularized areas detected by CD34 and CD105 were selected and the microvessel density value of the samples was registered. Samples were retrospectively divided according to the clinical outcome of MRONJ surgical treatment, dividing patients into two groups, “healed” and “not healed”. Statistical analysis was performed to assess if neovessels could influence treatment outcome in patients undergoing radical surgery. In the examined cohort, this value was highly predictive of better treatment outcome after radical surgery of MRONJ. Understanding of angiogenesis-dependent factors deserves further attention as a future target for MRONJ prevention and therapies.

A case of severe open bite malocclusion with crowding and short roots treated by two-jaw surgery including four-piece LeFort I osteotomy

BackgroundAppropriate operations in severe anterior open bite (AOB) cases are extremely complicated to perform because of the multiple surgical procedures involved, difficulty of predicting posttreatment aesthetics and high relapse rate.Case reportWe herein report a 16-year-old girl with skeletal Class II, severe AOB malocclusion and crowding with short roots and aesthetic and functional problems. Four-piece segmental LeFort I osteotomy combined with a posterior horseshoe-like osteotomy was performed for maxillary intrusion, and sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) and genioplasty were performed for mandibular advancement. The malocclusion and skeletal deformity were significantly improved by the surgical orthodontic treatment. Functional and aesthetic occlusion with an improved facial profile was established, and no further root shortening was observed. Acceptable occlusion and dentition were maintained after a two-year retention period.ConclusionThis strategy of surgical orthodontic treatment with a complicated operative procedure might be effective for managing severe AOB malocclusion.

Three-dimensional analysis of lip soft tissue changes and related jaw changes in patients with skeletal class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry

OBJECTIVE: To investigate three-dimensional soft tissue changes of lips and related jaw changes in patients with skeletal class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry using cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT). METHOD: This study included 46 CBCT scans of patients with aforementioned character before (T1) and 6–12 months after orthognathic surgery (T2). Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to two types of orthognathic surgery namely, the one-jaw surgery group who underwent bilateral sagittal splint ramus osteotomy (BSSRO) and the two-jaw surgery group who underwent Le Fort I osteotomy and BSSRO. Mimics 19.0 software are used for model reconstruction, landmark location and three-dimensional cephalometric analysis. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses are used to investigate jaw hard tissue and lip soft tissue changes. RESULTS: In one-jaw group, the mandible shows changes in contour and position (p < 0.05), and the surgery causes changes of lip structure on the deviated side. While in two-jaw group, jaws only show changes in spatial position, and surgery changes contour of bilateral lips and nasolabial angle (p < 0.05). At the same time, lip symmetry increases significantly in both groups postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Orthognathic surgery can improve lip aesthetics in patients with skeletal class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry. However, changes induced by two surgical approaches are different. Surgeons should have a clear acquaintance with this difference to deal with different situations.

The effects of orthognathic surgery on auditory function

Background Orthognathic surgery is widely used in treating functional and skeletal problems. Any surgical procedure could cause side effects. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the potential changes in orthognathic surgery on the hearing function of patients. Materials and methods Thirty-one orthognathic surgery candidates were recruited in this study. Patients underwent either single or double jaw surgery. Pure tone audiometry (PTA), tympanometry, and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Test (ETFT) were performed postoperatively at 24 h, 6 weeks, and 6 months after surgery. Patients were tabulated based on the type of maxilla and mandibular surgical movements (vertical and horizontal). Results PTA evaluation, based on horizontal or vertical movements, did not show significant differences, although vertical movements resulted in less change in hearing threshold. In other words, no significant changes occurred in patients’ hearing threshold after surgery. No significant difference was also observed between horizontal and vertical movements in the results of tympanometry. Negative changes were found in the results of ETFT in vertical movements, which returned to pre-surgery values in the final test. Conclusions The risk of minor changes in hearing function is probable during the first week after orthognathic surgery, but these negative changes will either totally fade or remain negligible. Patients gave informed consent preoperatively, and reassurance postoperatively is prudent.