Ma. Bamber et M. Harris, THE ROLE OF THE OCCLUSAL WAFER IN ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY - A COMPARISONOF THICK AND THIN INTERMEDIATE OSTEOTOMY WAFERS, Journal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery, 23(6), 1995, pp. 396-400
The aim of this study was to compare two types of osteotomy wafers, de
rived from model surgery on a semi-adjustable anatomical articulator.
The thick wafer was fabricated before autorotation of the mandibular c
ast and the thin after the autorotation. Twenty-five patients, 19 fema
le and 6 male, who had osteotomies with a maxillary impaction as part
of a bimaxillary correction were included in this study. Thick and thi
n wafers were fabricated and the surgeons were requested to compare bo
th wafers, intra-operatively. Valid results were received for 19 cases
, in 14 (74%) the surgeons concluded that both wafers located the maxi
lla in the same position, In 5 cases (26%) there was up to 2 mm differ
ence in the maxillary position. These were cases when the impaction wa
s > 6 mm, however, chi(2) and Fisher's exact test showed that the diff
erence in impaction between the two groups was not significant (p = 0.
06).