THE ROLE OF THE OCCLUSAL WAFER IN ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY - A COMPARISONOF THICK AND THIN INTERMEDIATE OSTEOTOMY WAFERS

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).