This study investigated facial profile changes in hard and soft tissues after orthognathic surgery in Japanese skeletal Class III patients. The subjects were Japanese skeletal Class III patients (surgical group) treated by orthognathic surgery (SSRO)(20 females), and Japanese skeletal Class I, II and III patients with malocclusions (non-surgical group) treated by only orthodontic treatment (30 females), The lateral cephalograms of the initial and posttreatment period were used. The SNA, SNB and ANB angles and HP-Symphysis of the hard tissue, the Profile angle (G-Sn-Pgs), the Naso-labial angle and the E-line to the Upper and Lower lip of the soft tissue were measured on the cephalograms. The changes from the initial state to the posttreatment condition in the 20 skeletal Class III patients were statistically evaluated by Mann-Whitney u-test analysis, and the posttreatment results were compared with those of the 30 patients group by Mann-Whitney u-test analysis. The results were as follows: 1. The SNB angle decreased significantly (from initial to posttreatment)(P<0.01) 2. The Profile angle also decreased significantly in the 20 skeletal Class III patients (P<0.01), 3. There were significant differences between the surgical group and nonsurgical group in ANB (P<0.01), HP-Symphysis (P<0.05), Profile angle (P<0.01), Naso-labial Angle (P<0.05) and E-line to Upper lip (P<0.01) parameters in the posttreatment period, and the surgical group showed a skeletal Class III tendency. Large profile changes were obtained in the results of the surgery patients, but the profile in the posttreatment period had only a slight skeletal Class III tendency.
