A new study, published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, sought to compare changes in hard and soft tissues and the treatment efficacy of 2-jaw surgery combined with nonextraction treatment for skeletal Class III malocclusion in patients who received minimal presurgical orthodontics (MPO) versus those who received conventional presurgical orthodontics (CPO).
The study included 32 patients (16 in each group) with skeletal Class III malocclusion who underwent 2-jaw surgery. Serial lateral cephalometric films were traced at four stages: before treatment (T0), before surgery (T1), 1 month after surgery (T2), and at debonding (T3). Cephalometric measurements and treatment duration were compared using independent t test and Mann-Whitney U test.
The researchers found that after the presurgical treatment phase, the angle between the lower incisor axis and mandibular plane, overjet, and soft tissue pogonion to the vertical reference line showed larger changes (P < 0.01) in the CPO group, whereas the pogonion to the horizontal reference line showed larger changes (P < .05) in the MPO group. In the postsurgical phase (T2 to T3), there were no significant differences between the two groups. Total treatment duration was significantly shorter in the MPO group.
There were no significant differences between the MPO and CPO groups in the hard and soft tissue cephalometric variables. The MPO group had a shorter total treatment time. Therefore, the researchers recommended that clinicians consider these results when selecting MPO as a treatment option for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning of Class III surgical patients.
