I'll go ahead and post the abstract, but first, let us be clear. I'm in no way suggesting surgery during growth isn't effective, won't work. What Ive seen time and again on here is the notion that, specifically in long face syndrome cases it seems, bones of the upper face that were grown downward and backward will suddenly stop and start growing forward like they're ideally supposed to. This is the supposed advantage, of early intervention correct?
Management of the growing patient with mandibular dentofacial deformities presents a unique and challengingproblem for orthodontists and surgeons.The surgical procedures required for correction of the deformity mayaffect postsurgical growth and dentofacial development.Further, facial growth may continue postoperativelyand negate the benefits of surgery performed, resulting in treatment outcomes that are less than ideal.Fromindividual patient characteristics, the type of deformity, and the indications for early surgical intervention, it ispossible to effectively treat many cases during growth.A thorough understanding of facial growth patterns isessential, and each case needs to be evaluated individually.Surgery is often undertaken with the expectationthat additional treatment, including more surgery, may be required after the completion of growth.The materialpresented here is based on the available research and the senior author?s clinical experience of more than 25years in the correction of mandibular deformities in the growing patient.Advantages and disadvantages ofspecific surgical techniques for correction of common mandibular deformities and pertinent age and surgicalconsiderations are discussed.The material should be viewed as a general outline that provides broadguidelines for management of these patients.The management of maxillary deformities will be discussed inPart 2 of this article.(Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2001;119:95-101)
