COLLABORATION BETWEEN ORTHODONTICS AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY IN THE TREATMENT OF DENTOFACIAL DEFORMITIES

This paper deals with the occurrence of cranio-dentofacial deformities and the difficulties encountered in their correction. The surgical go al is to correct or improve the dentofacial deformity and create an es thetically pleasing face; while orthodontic treatment seeks to align t he teeth in a good functional occlusion and thereby also improve the f acial appearance. Orthognathic surgery has, therefore, become unthinka ble without proper planning and assessment by both the orthodonist and maxillofacial surgeon in a teamwork situation. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to emphasize the desirable collaboration between the two specialties, orthodontics and maxillofacial surgery. The posit ive result of such teamwork has been illustrated with one clinical cas e.