Stability Following Combined Orthodontic-surgical Treatment for Skeletal Anterior Open Bite – a Cephalometric 15-Year Follow-up Study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term skeletal and dento-alveolar stability 15 years after combined orthodontic and surgical correction of skeletal anterior open bite. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ten (8 female, 2 male) anterior openbite patients who had undergone orthodontic treatment in combination with bimaxillary surgery at Hanover Medical School were examined. Each patient had undergone Le Fort I osteotomy combined with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO); osteosynthesis with plates and screws was carried out in the maxilla, and wire-osteosynthesis in the mandible. Cephalometric records of these patients were examined immediately before the start of the orthodontic treatment (T1), before surgery (T2), immediately after surgery (T3), medium-term after surgery, averaging 1.5 years (T4), and long-term after surgery, averaging 15 years (T5). Hasund cephalometric analysis was performed for which skeletal and dental cephalometric measurements had been taken. RESULTS: Moderate skeletal relapse was observed 15 years after surgery. Overbite remained quite stable 15 years after surgery, which is mainly due to the upper and lower incisors' eruption over the long-term period. CONCLUSION: Treatment of skeletal open bite via Le Fort I and bilateral sagittal split osteotomy appears to be a clinically successful procedure providing stable results.