title: Stability of mandibular advancement osteotomy using rigid internal fixation.
abstract: Forty-three patients who underwent surgical lengthening of the mandible using an inverted L osteotomy, bone grafting, and rigid internal fixation between the mandibular segments were evaluated by retrospective cephalometric analysis for longitudinal skeletal and dental changes. Postoperative response (means = 1 year 9 months) was found to demonstrate a high level of stability with some individual variability. No propensity for relapse was observed in any postoperative time interval. Condylar repositioning postoperatively appeared to be an important factor in those patients who exhibited any relapse tendency. Overall postoperative stability of this surgical/fixation technique appears to be significantly improved compared with previously documented techniques.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001860:Bone Plates; D001863:Bone Screws; D002508:Cephalometry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000601:surgery*; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors