• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.126-131
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• 2010

Objectives: This study is aimed to determine any differences in the postoperative stability between absorbable and titanium plate systems for fixation in orthognathic surgery with simultaneous maxillomandibular procedures especially including maxillary posterior impaction and advancement. Study Design: Forty patients with dentofacial deformities were randomly assigned into titanium (4 males and 6 females) and absorbable (17 males and 13 females) fixation group. All patients had undergone surgical alterations of maxilla with posterior impaction and advancement. A comparison study of the change in the maxillary position after the simultaneous surgery was performed with 1-day, 6-months postoperative lateral cephalograms compared to preoperative lateral cephalogram by tracing. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for statistical analysis. Result: The position of the maxilla was stable after surgery and was not changed significantly from 1 day to 6 month after the simultaneous maxillomandibular surgery both in the experimental (absorbable plates) and control (titanium plates). Conclusion: This study suggests that application of absorable plating system in the fixation of maxillary segment in the simultaneous maxillomandibular procedures, leads to a predictable short-term postoperative skeletal stability comparable to the titanium plating system. Long term follow-up and further studies will be needed.