Comparison of changes in the transverse dental axis between patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry treated by orthognathic surgery with and without presurgical orthodontic treatment

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate transverse skeletal and dental changes, including those in the buccolingual dental axis, between patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry after bilateral intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy with and without presurgical orthodontic treatment. METHODS: This retrospective study included 29 patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry including menton deviation > 4 mm from the midsagittal plane. To evaluate changes in transverse skeletal and dental variables (i.e., buccolingual inclination of the upper and lower canines and first molars), the data for 16 patients who underwent conventional orthognathic surgery (CS) were compared with those for 13 patients who underwent preorthodontic orthognathic surgery (POGS), using three-dimensional computed tomography at initial examination, 1 month before surgery, and at 7 days and 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: The 1-year postsurgical examination revealed no significant changes in the postoperative transverse dental axis in the CS group. In the POGS group, the upper first molar inclined lingually on both sides (deviated side, −1.8° ± 2.8°, p = 0.044; nondeviated side, −3.7° ± 3.3°, p = 0.001) and the lower canine inclined lingually on the nondeviated side (4.0° ± 5.4°, p = 0.022) during postsurgical orthodontic treatment. There were no significant differences in the skeletal and dental variables between the two groups at 1 year after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: POGS may be a clinically acceptable alternative to CS as a treatment to achieve stable transverse axes of the dentition in both arches in patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion and facial asymmetry.