Investigation of the effects of bimaxillary surgery on the pharyngeal airway space

Aim: To examine the pharyngeal airway space (PAS) changes in patients with skeletal Class III anomalies treated with two different bimaxillary surgery (BMS) techniques. Methodology: A total of 27 patients (15 females, 12 males) treated with BMS were divided into two groups: Group 1 (n=16, mean age: 20.67±2.82 years) consisted of patients who underwent maxillary-mandibular advancement (MMA), and Group 2 (n=11, mean age: 23.87±7.72 years) consisted of patients who underwent maxillary advancement and mandibular setback (MAMS). Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) records were taken immediately before (T1) and at least 5 months after (T2) BMS. To evaluate the postoperative PAS changes, the parameters of total volume (TV), upper volume (UV), lower volume (LV), and minimal axial area (Min-Ax) were evaluated using NemoCeph 10.4.2 software. Results: In Group 1, postoperative increases in the TV, NV, OV, and Min-Ax were determined as 4.5%, 6.6%, 3.07%, and 5.1%, respectively, but these increases were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). In Group 2, the following increases were determined: 10.4% in TV, 18.4% in NV, and 5.5% in OV. A postoperative decrease of 6.2% was determined for Min-Ax. These increases and decreases were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between groups 1 and 2 in any pre- and postoperative parameters (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Neither of the BMS techniques caused any significant change in the PAS parameters.   How to cite this article: Koç E, Akkurt A. Investigation of the effects of bimaxillary surgery on the pharyngeal airway space. Int Dent Res 2022;12(3):130-6. https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2022.vol12.no3.4   Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.