Methods: 11 patients with dentomaxillary anomalies were recruited, 5 with Angle class II and 6 with Angle class III malocclusion, that needed orthognathic surgery as part of the treatment plan. Each patient received presurgical and postsurgical orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances. The surgical intervention was planned and performed at the Department of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. All patients were investigated before and after the intervention (after the stabilization period of 6-12 months) through (1) clinical examination and (2) computerized axiography (CA) (CADIAX Compact,GAMMA, Austria). The data from the two recordings were compared in order to observe the modifications that appear in the TMJ.
Results: The preoperative axiographic recordings allowed a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) diagnosis which was justified and corelated with the dentomaxillary anomaly. In all patients, the postoperative recordings showed an improvement of the mandibular border movements, both in amplitude and aspect of the curves. The clinical symptoms of TMD significantly improved in all patients. The TMJ rehabilitation was more visible for the skeletal class III patients, as it is known that the posterior displacement of the condyles in skeletal class II anomalies is more damaging for the TMJ tissues.
Conclusions: The axiography is a complementary investigation that completes the TMJ clinical diagnosis. This kind of investigation is reproducible, so that a patient’s evolution under treatment can be monitored. Despite the limitations of this study, an improvement in the TMJ mobility and clinical symptoms following orthognathic surgery was registered in all patients.