Maxillary Stability After Le Fort. Osteotomy With 1.5 mm Microplate Fixation:. Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: – Le Fort. osteotomy is commonly performed to correct maxillary deformities, with most surgeons using. miniplates (2.0 mm) for fixation. However, limited evidence exists regarding postoperative skeletal stability when using smaller microplates (1.5 mm). This study aimed to evaluate the 3-dimensional skeletal stability of the maxilla following Le Fort. osteotomy fixed with 1.5-mm microplates in orthognathic surgery patients at the Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University. Methods: –. retrospective cohort study was conducted on 30 patients (21 women,. men; mean age 26.8 ± 5.7 y) who underwent bimaxillary osteotomies by the same surgeon. Postoperative skeletal changes were assessed using 3-dimensional virtual models generated from cone-beam computed tomography scans taken. week (T1) and. months (T2) after surgery. Superimposition of these models using an iterative closest point algorithm enabled the measurement of maxillary stability. The root mean square of point-to-point distances between models and positional differences at. anatomical landmarks were analyzed. Results: – All patients demonstrated satisfactory surgical outcomes. The mean root mean square value between superimposed models was 0.8019 mm (SD 0.413 mm), within clinically acceptable limits (≤2 mm). Differences in bone surface coordinates were within ±0.5 mm, with. mean distance change of −0.182 ± 0.2 mm. No significant surgical relapse was observed at any reference point after. months. Conclusions: – This is. retrospective study assessing maxillary stability with 1.5-mm microplates. The results indicate that 4-point microplate fixation offers stable and predictable postoperative outcomes in appropriately selected Le Fort. osteotomy cases.