Investigating the effect of age on skeletal stability after sagittal split ramus osteotomy for mandibular setback

J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg 2012;38:354-9) Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the age factor would be related with stability of mandibular setback surgery for patients with mandibular prognathism. Materials and Methods: We compared the relapse patterns of 47 patients divided into three age groups (termed younger, adult, and older). The younger group consisted of patients between 15 and 17 years old; the adult group was made up of patients between 21 and 23 years old, and the older group was made up of patients more than 40 years old. The positional change of B point was evaluated at preoperative, postoperative, and follow-up states. Results: The horizontal relapse ratio was 21.7% in the younger group, 15.3% in the adult group, and 15.7% in the older group. Although relatively higher degrees of relapse were found in the younger group, this increase was not statistically significant. Spearman’s correlation analysis was performed to explore other factors contributing to relapse. We subsequently found that the amount of relapse was related to horizontal setback. Conclusion: Although the degree of relapse in younger patients is not significant;y higher compared to other groups. The major contributing factor to relapse after sagittal split ramus osteotomy is amount of setback rather than age when the surgery was performed to patients over than 15 years of age.