Evaluation on the psychosocial status of orthognathic surgery patients
Received 6 February 2009; received in revised form 18 July 2009; accepted 23 July 2009.
Objective
This study was performed to evaluate the psychosocial status of orthognathic surgery patients through the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Symptom Checklist 90–Revision (SCL-90-R).
Study design
A total of 34 patients were enrolled in the study. They were assessed with the MMPI and the SCL-90-R before surgery and followed-up for 6 months after the operation with the MMPI. Comparisons between the personality characteristics of preoperative and postoperative patients and a total of 30 dental students with class I occlusion were made with the t test.
Results
The majority of patients showed no abnormal findings in the MMPI psychologic status. Significant differences in personality characteristics were noticed after orthognathic surgery.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that surgical treatment of dentofacial deformities may induce psychologic changes, such as depression, and that the improvement in facial deformities and enhanced sense of esthetic satisfaction may have a positive influence on psychosocial aspects.
aDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ewha Woman's University, Seoul, Korea
bDepartment of Dentistry, Institute for Clinical Dental Research, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
cDepartment of Orthodontics, Ewha Woman's University, Seoul, Korea
dDepartment of Psychiatrics, Ewha Woman's University, Seoul, Korea
Reprint requests: Sun-Jong Kim, DDS, MSD, PhD, 911-1 Mok-dong, Yangcheon-Gu, Seoul, South Korea
ABSTRACT