Pharyngeal airway changes associated with mandibular advancement.

This study analyzes changes in the anteroposterior dimension of the oropharynx as determined from lateral cephalometric radiographs on 26 patients who have undergone mandibular advancement. Increases in the sagittal dimensions of the oropharynx were unpredictable and tended to decrease with time, suggesting that mandibular advancement may be an unreliable method of treating obstructive sleep apnea. The most stable long-term results were found in those cases with narrowing of the oropharynx preoperatively.