Physical Versus Digital Orthognathic Surgical Planning

Objective: Orthognathic occlusal repositioning wafers could be constructed virtually and 3D printed. This paper assessed the accuracy of a suggested virtual model to the conventionally established Glasgow model surgery. Design: Prospective study of the orthognathic surgery models digitally. Participants: Seven patients who received bi-maxillary orthognathic surgeries for correction of dentofacial deformities. Methods: The patients were clinically assessed and their cone beam cmputerized tomography (CBCT) studied. Model surgery of each patient was performed conventionally using face-bow and semi-adjustable articulator. Same plan was executed virtually using Mimics (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) and 3Matic (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium). Conventionally fabricated acrylic wafers as well as 3D printed wafers were CBCT scanned with the casts reflecting the archived repositioning dictated by the wafers. Paired sample t test was performed to compare accuracy between intermediate and final occlusal repositioning wafers within conventional and virtual technique groups. Results: The mean deviation in intermediate wafer group was 0.64 ± 0.33 mm; whereas the mean deviation in final wafer group was 0.53 ± 0.10 mm. Paired sample t test showed that there was no statistically significant difference in mean deviation between both groups (P = 0.403). Conclusions: This virtual surgical wafer achieves a similar level of accuracy to the conventional Glasgow model surgery.