Facial soft and hard tissue changes after bimaxillary orthognathic surgery

The purpose of this study is to assess cephalometrically the hard and the soft tissue response of skeletal Class III patients treated by bimaxillary orthognatic surgery, and to evaluate the correlation between the two. Twenty-one patients, 8 men and 13 women, aged 18 to 35 years, had undergone two-jaw orthognatic surgery with maxillary Le Fort I advancement osteotomy and mandibular setback osteotomy, either bilateral sagittal split or vertical ramus osteotomy; with no additional surgical procedures on the mid-face or chin. After the bimaxillary surgery was underlined there was a strong correlation in the horizontal and vertical direction between all the selected landmarks of the lower lip and chin, but only between superior labial sulcus and point A in the upper lip in the horizontal direction. The relationship between hard tissue surgery and the effect which it has on the overlying soft tissue is extremely important in predicting final facial profile and aesthetical changes.