Dinesh Ram Raja.A.V^1,, Madhulaxmi. M², P.U. Abdul Wahab², James Solomon Jesudasan²

Rigid internal fixation was propagated for use in the oral and maxillofacial region in the late 197Os. Since that time, a number of systems have been developed for orthognathic surgery, craniofacial surgery and facial fracture reconstruction [1,2]. The advantages of such internal fixation include a stable intra operative maxillary position, the avoidance or reduced time of maxillomandibular fixation, and the suggestion within the current literature that long term stability is improved [3,4,5,6]. In most maxillofacial units it is routine policy not to remove plates and screws following bony union, unless when clinically indicated [7,8,9]. Many studies have investigated the removal of miniplates in trauma cases but relatively few studies have focused exclusively on orthognathic surgery operations. This review of literature was done to investigate if there isa need and necessity to remove plates and screws after orthognathic surgery.

miniplates, orthognathic surgery, infection