Objective: To evaluate the nasal changes after Le Fort 1 surgery in patients with skeletal Class III and asymmetry in order to confirm the hypothesis behind the presence of changes on nasal tilting and nostril shape by using the Three-Dimensional Imaging System.
Materials and Methods: Thirty-six Korean adults with skeletal Class III treated with maxillary Le Fort 1 and mandibular set-back surgery at the Seoul National University Dental Hospital were evaluated. The sample was divided according to midline correction, canting correction and no canting correction. The facial soft-tissue surface was scanned with a three-dimensional surface laser-scanning camera (Vivid 910, Konica Minolta Sensing, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) before and after 6 months of surgery. The standard software program Rapidform 2006 (Inus Technology, Seoul, Korea) was used to measure the anthropometrical variables of the nasal region. Paired t-test was carried out for statistical analysis.
Results and Conclusion: After Le Fort 1 surgery, the nasal base tilting was changed significantly (P < .05), as well as the nostril shape. Also, the alar width had increased significantly (P < .0001). The subjects treated in order to correct the midline and canting correction showed changes of nostril shape and nasal base tilting compared with those without canting correction (P < .05). Key Words: Nasal change; Skeletal Class III with asymmetry; Three-dimensional imaging system.