A study on long-term soft tissue changes after superior repositioning of the maxilla

Lee, Dong Yul

Abstract

ft tissue changes that occurred between presurgery to 5-years post-surgery in 49 orthognathic surgery patients whose maxillae were moved upward by Le Fort I osteotomy were examined by lateral cephalometric film. The objective of the paper was to document soft tissue changes at long-term follow-up after superior repositioning of the maxilla and to relate soft tissue and hard tissue changes in the group. The results were as follows. 1. On average, soft tissue landmarks in the nose and the upper lip were not changed statistically significantly except superior movement of superior labial sulcus and forward movement of pronasale between presurgery and 5 years postsurgery. 2. Upward and forward movement of the lower lip were found at 5 years postsurgery in comparison with presurgery and genioplasty added this effects. 3. Upper lip length and vertical dimension of upper vermilion didn't show any significant changes, but increase of lower lip length and decrease of vertical dimension of lower vermilion were statistically significant between presurgery and 5 years post-surgery. 4. The decrease of upper incisor exposure and interlabial distance from presurgery to 1 year were continued from 1year to 5years and the amount of the decrease was more than that of vertical movement of the maxilla by surgery. 5. Long term changes in soft tissue landmarks from 1 to 5 years postsurgery exceeded hard tissue changes, meaning soft tissue moved down more than skeletal changes.