Abstract

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the volume of pre- and post operative masseter muscle and bite force in mandibular prognathic patients treated with SSRO with the use of the 3D CT imaging technique and occlusal force meter. Materials and methods: The study group consisted of 12 patients with mandibular prognathism (5 males and 7 females) who underwent mandibular setback surgery (BSSRO) in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Samsung medical center. Bite force was measured at pre op, post op 3, 6 and 12 months by occlusal force meter(GM10, Nagano Keiki, Japan) The preoperative CT examination of subjects was performed between one month prior to operation and one year after to operation. And muscle volume was measured. Result: As compared to preoperative measurements at 1 year postoperatively the masseter and internal pterygoid muscle volume were diminished (p<0.05) The bite force steadily recovered, so at postoperatively 6 months reached the preoperative level. And at 1 year after operation, the maximum bite force was significantly greater than preoperative levels. No significant correlation was presented between masseter muscle and bite force (p>0.05), internal pterygoid muscle and bite force (p>0.05). Conclusion: In this study, the results showed that volume and bite force of the masticatory muscles decresed significantly immediate after orthognathic surgery for mandibular set-back. However, reduction of maximum bite force disappears within 6 months after surgery.