Impact of Correcting Skeletal Facial Pattern Types II and III on Quality of Life After Orthognathic Surgery

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate quality of life (QoL) after orthognathic surgery according to the skeletal facial profile pattern and to identify whether the surgical site in the maxilla, mandible, or both influences QoL. METHODS: Fifty adult patients were analyzed according to the facial profile pattern of the deformity and divided into 2 groups: facial pattern II (24 patients) and III (26 patients). At predetermined time points (T0: preoperative; T1: 3 mo postoperatively; and T2: 6 mo postoperatively), patients completed the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) and the Oral Health Impact Profile Questionnaire (OHIP-14). RESULTS: At T0, in the total sample, facial pattern II showed higher QoL compared with facial pattern III (P<0.05). At T2, no difference was observed between the groups; however, the mean reductions in OQLQ and OHIP-14 scores from T0 to T2 were greater in facial pattern III across the total sample. For each group, the reduction in scores in both questionnaires from T0 to T2 was significant (P<0.001). The standardized response mean (SRM) was high and demonstrated large changes for most outcomes, demonstrating that both questionnaires showed substantial improvement in QoL. Facial pattern III showed a higher SRM than facial pattern II, suggesting a greater impact. Within each group, no differences were observed in OQLQ and OHIP-14 scores that influenced QoL related to unimaxillary or bimaxillary surgeries (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Facial patterns II and III patients show improvements in QoL after orthognathic surgery. However, because facial pattern III patients present poorer QoL before surgery, they tend to experience greater improvement than facial pattern II patients. QoL is not influenced by whether the surgery is unimaxillary or bimaxillary surgery in either pattern II or III patients.