Tip upturning and maxillary advancement: the UT angle.

Improving facial aesthetics has been shown to be a strong motivational factor in patients who decide to undergo orthognathic surgery. The nose is a keystone of facial aesthetics and is thus of central importance in planning and executing orthognathic surgery. Authors present their way to forecast the tip projection in anterior advancement of the maxilla. In the sample, only patients who, after Le Fort I, needed an advancement of the maxilla (56 patients) were considered. For each patient, the upturning angle was measured before and 6 months after surgery. In all the cases, a good aesthetic and functional result was reached; there were no big complications. From this study, it is possible to note that the upturning angle decreased by 0.6 to 0.8 degree each millimeter of maxillary advancement.