Surgical Camouflage as a Solution for Complete Decompensating Failures: An Interesting Experience With Class III Case Scenarios

Cureus. 2022 Jun 14;14(6):e25926. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25926. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Dental compensations are an integral part of skeletal malocclusions. Failure to achieve optimal decompensation may lead to compromised surgical movements, thereby resulting in sub-optimal occlusion and soft tissue profile. Hence the mandibular subapical osteotomy was chosen as a minimalistic surgical alternative to the traditional combination of Le Fort 1 and bilateral sagittal split osteotomy. The choice was made by prioritizing soft tissue considerations, which offered the probability of a better post-treatment outcome. This paper highlights two such challenging case scenarios where the surgical plan was modified in accordance with the soft tissue as the primary objective.

Keywords: camouflage; class iii malocclusion; orthognathic surgery; soft tissue aesthetics; sub apical osteotomy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports