Abstract
This article is on a case of unilateral Le Fort I corticotomy of a female patient (18 years old). She had a maxillo-facial deformity, accompanied by an asymmetrical unilateral narrow alveolar arch. Her skeletal pattern showed mandibular prognathism. The distances between the mid-palatal line and the first premolar, as well as the first molar, were shorter on the right side of the arch than on the left side by 4mm and 5mm respectively. Her mandible was shifted to the left side from the facial midline by 6mm.
A two-stage surgical operation was performed on this patient. The treatment procedures were 1) to set the rapid expansion appliance, to perform unilateral Le Fort I type corticotomy only on the right buccal side, and to perform preoperative orthodontic treatment without tooth extraction; 2) to carry out the sagittal splitting ramus osteotomy (SSRO) and postoperative orthodontic treatment.
The results showed that the length of total maxillary expansion was greater on the right operated side than on the left side by 2 to 3mm. Moreover, after SSRO, the asymmetry of her frontal view was completely corrected, and a balanced, harmonized profile was obtained.
