Advancement genioplasty with and without soft tissue pedicle: An experimental investigation.

To determine whether maintaining a soft tissue pedicle to the genial segment decreases the amount of bone resorption following an advancement genioplasty, 12 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) underwent advancement genioplasty of 5-6 mm. The insertion of the digastric musculature and lingual soft tissues on the genial segment was maintained in six of the animals, and six had all soft tissues stripped. Cephalometric analysis of remodeling in the anterior part of the mandible indicated that the pedicled genial segments underwent significantly less resorption than the free graft segments (P less than 0.05). The results of this study indicate that soft tissue pedicles to the genial segments should be maintained during advancement genioplasty to minimize the amount of bone resorption in the post-operative period.