Purpose, The purpose of this study was to assess hard and soft tissue stabi
lity 12 months after advancement genioplasty.
Material and Methods, This is a retrospective study of 20 patients who unde
rwent either advancement genioplasty alone (n = 11) or in combination with
bilateral sagittal split osteotomy for mandibular advancement (n = 9). Late
ral cephalometric radiographs were traced and immediate postoperative chang
es and 12-month postoperative changes were defined. The relapse rate for th
e pogonion, the soft tissue pogonion, and the soft tissue B point (Bs) were
evaluated. The results were compared for combined mandibular advancement p
lus genioplasty versus genioplasty alone. Relapse rates were also correlate
d with the amount of advancement. All patients were treated with rigid inte
rnal fixation.
Results. After 12 months, the pogonion, the soft tissue pogonion, and the s
oft tissue B point had a mean relapse rate of -0.38 mm, -1.2 mm, and -1.5 m
m (negative value indicates a relapse, and a positive value indicates prola
pse), respectively, which was not significant at probability values of .45,
.069, and .054, respectively Relapse was not statistically related to the
amount of advancement. There was no significant difference between the rela
pse rate for genioplasty alone versus combined bilateral sagittal split ost
eotomy and genioplasty, even with different amounts of advancement.
Conclusions, Advancement genioplasty is an important and reliable technique
for the esthetic treatment of the lower facial skeleton. The results indic
ate that there is no significant relapse after genioplasty and bilateral sa
gittal split osteotomy or genioplasty alone after 12 months when rigid inte
rnal fixation is used. The changes were minimal and hard to detect clinical
ly Genioplasty, with or without mandibular advancement, is a stable surgica
l procedure when used in conjunction with rigid internal fixation.