What characteristics do orthodontists desire in orthognathic surgeons?

Objective: The purpose of our study was to report and rank orthognathic surgeon characteristics as valued by referring orthodontists.

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study surveying orthodontists registered with the American Academy of Orthodontists' Partners in Research program. Survey items gathered information on both orthodontist characteristics and perceptions across 9 surgeon characteristics. Descriptive statistics were computed for all survey items, and linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between orthodontist characteristics and number of orthognathic surgeries performed.

Results: Among the 1300 surveyed orthodontists, there were 172 respondents (13% response rate). The majority of orthodontists (66.9%) had had at least 15 years of practice experience, completed between 1 and 5 surgical cases in the past year (55.6%), and referred their orthognathic cases to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon (99.4%). Among orthodontists, only practice experience (P < .01) was independently associated with the number of surgeries performed. An understanding of preoperative and nonoperative orthodontics was the most highly valued surgeon characteristic, and 50% of all respondents listed it as one of the most important characteristics. The next most valued surgeon characteristics were the ability to lead surgical treatment planning, acceptance of patient insurance plans, and sharing of strong personal and professional relationships.

Conclusions: The most desirable characteristic in an orthognathic surgeon, as stated by the surveyed orthodontists, was an understanding of both preoperative and nonoperative orthodontics. Surgeons seeking to increase orthognathic referrals should work to increase insurance coverage and actively initiate strong personal and professional relationships with orthodontists.