A perioral soft tissue evaluation after orthognathic surgery

Aesthetic surgeries are performed to correct the facial appearance, which can mean that these processes can sometimes create enormous changes to the face. These surgeries are carried out on the bone but the changes will reflect on the facial appearance with time. The face is a very important area of the body which helps in recognition and identification of an individual. It has the essence of attraction, facial expression, communication etc. Any minor abnormality is also considered as major deformity by the human eyes. Hence accuracy is of prime importance to operate such cases. It is a matter of utmost importance to know about the changes which occurs on the facial appearance by manipulating the bony architecture. The smile is the jewel of face which is expressed when the tissue surrounding the lip execute their action. These tissues are called perioral soft tissues. The major evaluation metrics for perioral soft tissues are nasolabial angle, mentolabial angle and lip width. A clinical study was performed on ten patients who underwent orthognathic surgeries using a three-dimensional computed tomography scan. It is the best three dimensional imaging technique available to evaluate physical features of the face. In our study, one-week pre-operative and one-year post-operative scans were analyzed and evaluated for soft tissue changes which were compared in relation to hard tissue osteotomies. Our study showed a significant change post operatively in the nasolabial and mentolabial angle but no changes in the lip width.

###

For more information about this article, please visit https://benthamopen.com/FULLTEXT/TOORTHJ-10-62

Reference: Kattimani VS et al, (2018). A Perioral Soft Tissue evaluation after Orthognathic Surgery Using Three-Dimensional Computed Tomography Scan, The Open Dentistry Journal. DOI: 10.2174/1874210601812010366