An Investigation of the Accuracy of a New Technique for Surgical Repositioning a Maxilla

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the method of the Four Faces of Orthognathic SurgeryRTM in regards to surgical accuracy and the ability to transfer this method to an academic setting. Methods: An experimental group consisted of 15 patients from a university setting and 17 patients from a private practice setting. Lateral cephalograms were taken immediately prior to the orthognathic procedure and post-operatively within six weeks. Pre-surgical, post-surgical cephalograms, and the hand generated surgical predictions were collected from the sample. The differences of planned and actual changes to incision were then analyzed to determine whether or not a statistical significance existed with respect to the following variables: surgical team, surgical complexity, and direction of maxillary movement. Results: The private practice sample evaluated in this study shows that 100% of the patients were treated to within 1mm of prediction. The university team sample had a greater variation in surgical accuracy than the private practice team with 87% of the patients treated within 2mm of prediction and 53% treated within 1mm of prediction. However, this variation is not statistically significant. When surgical complexity and the primary direction of maxillary movement were compared, no significant differences were found. Conclusions: The Four Faces of Orthognathic SurgeryRTM is a significantly accurate method of surgically repositioning the maxilla to a planned treatment goal and is a very transferable method to assure accurate repositioning of a maxilla in an academic setting