Distraction osteogenesis for correction of transverse mandibular deficiency: A preliminary report

Purpose: This article reviews the early results with distraction osteogenesis to correct transverse width deficiencies in the mandible. Patients and Methods: Nine patients with congenital/developmental maxillofacial skeletal deformities had distraction osteogenesis performed. All patients had study casts and cephalometric and dental radiographs obtained before and after surgery. Eight of the nine patients also had simultaneous surgical assisted-rapid palatal expansion (SA-RPE). The other patient had nonsurgical RPE. Results: Successful completion of the planned mandibular symphyseal distraction was achieved in eight of nine patients. Four of the nine experienced failure of the distraction appliance because of stripping of the distraction tram. Three of them underwent reoperation. The mean expansion achieved in the anterior mandible measured at the canines was 3.9 mm. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that distraction osteogenesis is a viable option to correct transverse discrepancies of the mandible.