Ed. Rekow et al., LOCATION OF THE MANDIBULAR CENTER OF AUTOROTATION IN MAXILLARY IMPACTION SURGERY, American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, 103(6), 1993, pp. 530-536
Controversy exists about the location of the center of autorotation of
the mandible after maxillary impaction surgery. This investigation fo
cuses on the problems associated with locating that center of autorota
tion and identifies factors that can increase the probability of accur
ately identifying its location for predicting surgical outcomes. The r
eliability of the Rouleaux technique for calculating the centers of ro
tation is established and is shown to be acceptable, as long as the la
ndmarks used for determining the center are properly selected, and the
magnitude of the rotation required is sufficient. The location of the
centers of autorotation of the mandibles after maxillary impaction su
rgery for 46 patients was used to investigate the errors associated wi
th landmark selection and amounts of rotation. Although there is much
variation in its location, the center does not lie within the body of
the condyle but instead lies away from the condyle. Guidelines for max
imizing the reliability of predicting surgical outcomes on the basis o
f autorotation of the mandible after maxillary impaction surgery are g
iven.