Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate soft tissue changes in the nose and upper lip following maxillary alveolar osteotomy. The subjects selected for this study were 20 maxillary protrusion cases, which underwent two different treatment modalities: A surgical group, consisting of 10 subjects treated with a combination of maxillary alveolar osteotomy and orthodontic treatment, and an orthodontic group, consisting of 10 subjects treated with only orthodontic treatment after 4 bicuspids were extracted.
For each patient, lateral cephalograms before and after treatment were traced and superimposed, and linear and angular measurements were obtained, and the data from the two groups were compared. We further evaluated the relationship between changes of the hard and soft tissues in each group. The results were as follow:
1. After treatment, point A and the prosthion were significantly moved backward, in the surgical group, compared with the orthodontic group.
2. There was no significant change of the pronasale in both groups. In the surgical group, subnasale were significantly more retracted than in the orthodontic group. Nasal height increased more in the surgical group than in the orthodontic group. Although there was a significant positive correlation between subnasale and point A retraction in the surgical group, there was no correlation in the orthodontic group.
In conclusion, compared with orthodontic treatment, an anterior maxillary osteotomy influences the subnasale by retracting it posteriorly, consequently increasing nasal height and improving the overall facial profile appearance.
