In-House 3D-Printed Surgical Guides with a Minimally Invasive Design for Asymmetric Mentoplasty: A Case Series

<b>Background</b>: Mentoplasty plays a central role in facial harmony, particularly in the correction of chin asymmetries. Advances in digital planning and three-dimensional (3D) printing have enabled the development of patient-specific surgical guides; however, their clinical implementation in public healthcare settings remains limited by workflow complexity and accessibility. <b>Methods</b>: This case series describes three patients who underwent asymmetric mentoplasty using customized, in-house-manufactured 3D-printed cutting and positioning guides. Virtual surgical planning was performed using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) data, followed by guide design and fabrication through an in-house digital workflow. Postoperative CBCT was used for descriptive assessment of the correspondence between planned and achieved chin positions using predefined linear reference points. <b>Results</b>: Across the three cases, postoperative CBCT analysis demonstrated encouraging agreement between virtual planning and achieved surgical outcomes. The customized guides facilitated accurate transfer of the planned osteotomy and chin positioning in both symmetric and asymmetric movements. No major intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. Guide fabrication required low material consumption, enabling rapid in-house production with minimal direct material cost. <b>Conclusions</b>: Within the limitations of a small case series, the proposed in-house digital workflow demonstrated technical feasibility and encouraging agreement between planned and achieved chin positioning in selected asymmetric mentoplasty cases. Further studies with larger samples and standardized accuracy assessment methods are required to confirm these preliminary observations.

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Journal
Dentistry Journal
Published
2026-03-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/dj14030135
Primary Topic
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
Type
article
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article

In-House 3D-Printed Surgical Guides with a Minimally Invasive Design for Asymmetric Mentoplasty: A Case Series

Guilherme Pivatto Louzada, Thiago Nunes Palhares, Heloísa Fonseca Marão, Diogo De Vasconcelos Macêdo et al.
Dentistry Journal
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
article

In-House 3D-Printed Surgical Guides with a Minimally Invasive Design for Asymmetric Mentoplasty: A Case Series

Guilherme Pivatto Louzada, Thiago Nunes Palhares, Heloísa Fonseca Marão, Diogo De Vasconcelos Macêdo, Gustavo Câmara, Henrique Seiji Furukawa, Guilherme Zanovelli Silva, Ana Beatriz Goettnauer de Cerqueira, Raissa Dias Fares, Marcella Barros Bonfim, Jamil Awad Shibli, Bianca Pulino, Raphael Capelli Guerra
article en

Abstract

<b>Background</b>: Mentoplasty plays a central role in facial harmony, particularly in the correction of chin asymmetries. Advances in digital planning and three-dimensional (3D) printing have enabled the development of patient-specific surgical guides; however, their clinical implementation in public healthcare settings remains limited by workflow complexity and accessibility. <b>Methods</b>: This case series describes three patients who underwent asymmetric mentoplasty using customized, in-house-manufactured 3D-printed cutting and positioning guides. Virtual surgical planning was performed using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) data, followed by guide design and fabrication through an in-house digital workflow. Postoperative CBCT was used for descriptive assessment of the correspondence between planned and achieved chin positions using predefined linear reference points. <b>Results</b>: Across the three cases, postoperative CBCT analysis demonstrated encouraging agreement between virtual planning and achieved surgical outcomes. The customized guides facilitated accurate transfer of the planned osteotomy and chin positioning in both symmetric and asymmetric movements. No major intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. Guide fabrication required low material consumption, enabling rapid in-house production with minimal direct material cost. <b>Conclusions</b>: Within the limitations of a small case series, the proposed in-house digital workflow demonstrated technical feasibility and encouraging agreement between planned and achieved chin positioning in selected asymmetric mentoplasty cases. Further studies with larger samples and standardized accuracy assessment methods are required to confirm these preliminary observations.

Dentistry JournalVol. 14(3)
Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (BR), Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR), Faculdade Brasil (BR), Guarulhos University (BR), Centro de Tecnologia da Informação Renato Archer (BR), Hospital Sírio-Libanês (BR), Universidade de Santo Amaro (BR), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 38%
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
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