Orthognathic surgery for obstructive sleep apnea

As the importance in the management of obstructive sleep apnea and other obstructive upper airway disease continues to increase, the effect of orthognathic surgery on the upper airway in correction of both dentofacial deformities and obstructive sleep apnea has become a prominent component of treatment planning in recent decades. Applied correctly, orthognathic surgery can have a dramatic and life-changing effect on decreasing nocturnal obstructions through expansion of the upper airway. Large advancements of the maxillomandibular complex allows for three-dimensional upper airway expansion to nocturnal obstruction that diminish the deleterious effects of obstructive sleep apnea. This paper will discuss the orthognathic surgical techniques that are essential in the treatment planning to achieve the desired results of relief of nocturnal upper airway obstructions.