International journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery

1399-00204412015JanInternational journal of oral and maxillofacial surgeryInt J Oral Maxillofac SurgData-based prediction of soft tissue changes after orthognathic surgery: clinical assessment of new simulation software.909690-610.1016/j.ijom.2014.08.006S0901-5027(14)00303-8The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of a novel simulation software package (OrthoForecast) for predicting the soft tissue profile after orthognathic surgery. The study included 15 patients with facial asymmetry (asymmetry group), 15 with a skeletal class II jaw relationship (class II group), and 15 with a skeletal class III jaw relationship (class III group). Twenty-four feature points were digitized, and the distances between points on the predicted and actual postoperative images were compared. Thirty-seven calibrated evaluators also graded the similarity of the predicted images compared to the actual postoperative photographs. Comparisons between the predicted and actual postoperative images revealed that the mean difference between feature points was 3.1 ± 1.4 mm for the frontal images and 2.9 ± 0.8 mm for the lateral images in the asymmetry group; 2.7 ± 0.9 and 2.1 ± 1.6 mm, respectively, in the class II group; and 1.8 ± 1.2 and 1.7 ± 1.0 mm, respectively, in the class III group. More than half of the evaluators assessed the predicted images as similar to the actual postoperative images in all groups. In conclusion, OrthoForecast can be regarded as useful, accurate, and reliable software to predict soft tissue changes after orthognathic surgery.Copyright © 2014 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.AbeNNDepartment of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, The University of Tokushima Graduate School of Oral Sciences, Tokushima, Japan; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rokko Island Konan Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.KurodaSSDepartment of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Institute of Health Biosciences, Tokushima, Japan.FurutaniMMDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rokko Island Konan Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.TanakaEEDepartment of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Institute of Health Biosciences, Tokushima, Japan. Electronic address: etanaka@tokushima-u.ac.jp.engJournal Article20140911