The aim of this article is to discuss the effectiveness of clockwise rotation of the occlusal plane for skeletal class III deformities with the use of two-jaw surgery.
The most popular orthognathic surgical management for class III malocclusion is mandibular setback using a bilateral sagittal splitting ramus osteotomy (SSRO). However, it has been suggested that, with the aid of an operative method using SSRO alone, complete elimination of the protruded appearance in the mental region is hardly attainable, in some cases. To obtain better functional and esthetic results for patients with class M deformities, clockwise rotation of the occlusal plane, using two-jaw surgery, appears to be considerably useful surgical management. The changes provided by an increased occlusal plane angle include 1) advancement of the midface; 2) rotation of the chin posteriorly; 3) a decreased maxillary incisor angle; 4) an increased mandibular plane angle; 5) decreased posterior facial height. We emphasize that, by appropriate usage of clockwiserotation of the occlusal plane, more favorable functional and esthetic results for the correction of skeletal class deformity will be enabled in some cases.
