The Le Fort I downsliding osteotomy: a study of long-term hard tissue stability

Abstract

Surgical maxillary repositioning in individuals with a vertical maxillary deficiency, may be accompanied by skeletal instability. Cephalograms of 10 patients who underwent a Le Fort I downsliding osteotomy were s .tidied retrospectively. 7 patients underwent a single jaw procedure while 3 patients underwent a double jaw procedure. Rigid fixation was used in 7 patients while wire osteosynthesis was utilised in 3. Descriptive statistics, Pearson moment correlations, and significance testing were performed at the 5% significance level. The intra-observer error reflected by the 95% confidence limit of measurements, ranged between 0.76 and 1.27 mm, and 0.83°. The maxilla was stable horizontally but it underwent a mean 32.1% superior relapse anteriorly, at the long-term. The results were however variable. Single jaw surgery and rigid internal fixation showed no difference in stability than with wire osteosynthesis. Bimaxillary surgery with rigid fixation showed no difference in stability to isolated maxillary surgery and rigid fixation.