Presurgical orthodontics

Orthognathic surgery is a process in which dentofacial deformities and malocclusions are corrected by surgical operations of the facial skeleton sometimes combined with various soft tissue procedures.The term orthognathic originates from the Greek words orthos ‘straight’ and gnathos ‘jaw’. It is possible to correct or “straighten” deformities separately in either the maxilla or the mandible with many types of surgical techniques or to do procedures concurrently on both jaws (bimaxillary operations). The treatment does not change only the bony relations of the facial structures but soft tissues as well and by doing so may alter the patient’s appearance.Contemporary orthognathic techniques can be applied in many fields of surgery. Apart from correcting congenital and post traumatic malocclusions they can be used in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome to improve phonetics or even in tumour resections.