The pattern of postoperative bone resorption following mandibular vestibulolingual sulcoplasty with free skin graft.

The results of a cephalometric analysis of 70 patients in whom a mandibular vestibulolingual sulcoplasty with free skin graft was done are presented. The subjects were 56 women and 14 men who had worn dentures for an average of 17 years and had been followed up for as long as five years after the operation. The analysis showed an average of 1.7 mm loss of anterior height in the symphysis region in the first year after operation. After that time, no further increase in bone loss was observed. There was a tendency for greater resorption in patients with a small gonial angle. No correlation was found between the degree of resorption and sex, age, beta angle, and symphysis angle. There was a strong correlation between the loss in anterior height of the symphysis region and the loss of area in square millimeters.