Jawline improvement using patient-specific angle implants with virtual planning in orthognathic surgery

Abstract

There has been a recent increase in the global demand for jawline augmentation. Managing angle definition in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery remains challenging owing to the characteristics of classic mandibular osteotomy, which mostly allows sagittal mandibular movements but cannot modify the ramus height. The advent of computer-assisted surgical planning and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing techniques for patient-specific implant fabrication has introduced new methods for jawline management. In this study, we aimed to assess jawline improvement using patient-specific angle implants in 18 patients undergoing orthognathic surgery with standard osteotomies. Since jawline's shape is an aesthetic refinement of orthognathic surgery, it has to be assessed with the inclusion of the soft tissues. Therefore, this study focused on jawline improvement by comparing the preoperative and postoperative 3D-photographs of each patient's face using the VECTRA H2 Imaging System camera device and software. Quantitative analysis revealed that the mean volumetric angle expansion was 4.6 mm (males, 4.71 mm; females, 4.48 mm). Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that the jaw angle parameters were concordant with the ideal female and male jaw angle parameters proposed in the literature. Patient-specific titanium angle implants are a promising and safe method for jawline improvement in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery.