Assessment of skeletal stability of intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy with one-day maxillary-mandibular fixation followed by early jaw exercise.

Purpose: Intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (IVRO) is an effective surgical technique for cases of mandibular setback, is simpler and has a lower incidence of mental paraesthesia when compared to sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO). However, IVRO has a disadvantage in the prolonged duration of postoperative maxillary-mandibular fixation (MMF) required due to the absence of rigid bone fixation. To avoid an extended MMF period, we developed a postoperative management protocol for our IVRO patients, using jaw exercises with elastic bands starting on the second day after surgery.