Stability of the Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy after rigid internal fixation

Comparison of biomechanical behaviour of maxilla following Le Fort I osteotomy with 2- versus 4-plate fixation using 3D-FEA

“…Postsurgical studies have shown absolute measurements in the maxillary skeletal landmarks indicated a continued superior movement of the maxilla 1,4,11,17,19,20,22 .…”

“…Many reports showed less postoperative relapse with rigid internal fixation plates and most oral and maxillofacial surgeons consider them to be the 'gold standard' fixation material in orthognathic surgery 5,12,13,20 . Miniplates were therefore chosen as the rigid internal fixation material in this study.…”

“…Skeletal relapse after Le Fort I impaction surgery was shown to occur at the anterior maxilla rather than the posterior, both with wire and miniplate fixation techniques 4,19,20 . Therefore, anterior fixation of miniplates could be considered more effective after impaction surgery.…”

“…In contrast, superior repositioning has been reported as a stable movement 20 . Factors that may affect the stability of the Le Fort I osteotomy include presurgical and postsurgical orthodontic stability, scar retraction, interference with the nasal septum, nonpassive positioning of the maxilla, quality of the resulting occlusion and the type of internal fixation 1,5,6,18 .…”

“…Factors that may affect the stability of the Le Fort I osteotomy include presurgical and postsurgical orthodontic stability, scar retraction, interference with the nasal septum, nonpassive positioning of the maxilla, quality of the resulting occlusion and the type of internal fixation 1,5,6,18 . The relationship between the type of fixation 10.005, available online at http://www.sciencedirect.com and stability of the Le Fort I osteotomy for impaction has been studied by many authors 2,4,17,19,20,24 .…”