Seeking beauty: understanding the psychology behind orthognathic surgery

Orthognathic surgery to correct serious skeletal discrepancies of the jaw improves both function and appearance, but patients should spend a lot of time thinking about, discussing, and planning operations that have such a considerable impact. The drive to improve appearance by such radical means is based on social and personal reasons, and this must be understood before treatment is considered. In this paper, we will review studies on the psychology of orthognathic surgery.