Lower lip deformity in patients with cleft and non-cleft Class III malocclusion before and after orthognathic surgery

BackgroundOrthognathic surgery does not yield the same cosmetic benefits in patients with Class III jaw deformities associated with clefts as for patients without clefts. Preoperative upper lip tightness caused by cleft lip repair may not fully explain this difference, suggesting that a lower lip deformity is present. The study compared the outcomes of orthognathic surgery in patients with cleft and non-cleft Class III malocclusion, focusing on lip relationship.Materials and methodsThe surgical records of 50 patients with Class III malocclusion, including 25 with and 25 without clefts, who had undergone orthognathic surgery, were retrospectively analyzed. Lateral cephalometric tracings, preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively, were superimposed to analyze the soft tissue changes at seven reference points.ResultsAt 6 months after surgery, there were no significant differences in skeletal location, whereas the soft tissues of the lower lip differed significantly between patients with and without cleft (p = 0.002), indicating the persistence of a lower lip deformity in cleft patients. Moreover, the soft tissues of the lower lip receded in non-cleft patients and protruded in cleft patients after orthognathic surgery.ConclusionLower lip deformity and upper lip tightness may result in an unsatisfactory relationship between the upper and lower lips of patients with cleft-related jaw deformity after orthognathic surgery. Other factors were less important than the pathology of the lower lip.