Lip-nasal aesthetics following Le Fort I osteotomy

Forty-one patients undergoing Le Fort I osteotomy for superior and/or anterior repositioning of the maxilla were prospectively studied for changes in soft-tissue morphology of the nasomaxillary region. Nasal parameters studied were changes in interalar rim width and nasal tip projection. It was observed that alar rim width increases with anterior and/or superior repositioning of the maxilla, but increases in nasal tip projection occur only when there is an anterior vector of maxillary movement. These nasal changes could not be quantitatively correlated to magnitude of maxillary movement. Lip changes studied were the horizontal displacement at the vermilion border and subnasale versus that of the incisal edge and point A, respectively, when the maxilla is sagittally advanced and the vertical shortening of the lip versus that of the incisal edge when the maxilla is shortened. Using linear regression analysis, horizontal displacement of the upper lip at the vermilion border was 0.82 +/- 0.13 mm for every 1 mm of maxillary advancement at the incisal edge (p less than 0.001) and 0.51 +/- 0.13 at the subnasale for every 1 mm of maxillary advancement at point A (p less than 0.001). Eighty percent of patients undergoing maxillary intrusive procedures had lip shortening ranging from 20 to 50 percent of the vertical maxillary reduction. Surprisingly, no statistically significant correlation could be demonstrated for lip shortening versus extent of vertical maxillary reduction. Previous literature in disagreement with these findings is discussed. Guidelines for treatment planning utilizing these data are suggested.