# Changes in patient-reported chief complaints with orthognathic surgery: a prospective cohort study

## TL;DR

This study tracks how patient-reported complaints like dental function and aesthetics change before and after orthognathic surgery.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into how patient-reported chief complaints evolve during orthognathic surgery treatment.

## Key findings

- Dental function, facial aesthetics, and dental aesthetics were the most common complaints before treatment.
- All ten subcategories of complaints showed significant improvement after surgery.
- Patient-reported outcomes improved significantly from before treatment to 6–9 months post-surgery.

## Abstract

There is a lack of studies on patient-reported outcomes in orthodontics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in patient-reported chief complaints during orthognathic surgery treatment.

Patients undergoing orthognathic surgery at the University Hospital Münster between 2019 and 2023 were eligible for inclusion in this prospective cohort study. Patient-reported chief complaints were recorded on visual analogue scale (VAS) forms before treatment (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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A total of 217 out of 386 recruited patients (56%) completed all study assessments and were included in the final analysis (female/male = 126/91, median age 24.1 years). Dental function, facial aesthetics, and dental aesthetics were the most frequently reported complaints at \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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Orthognathic surgery patients most frequently report dental function, facial aesthetics, and dental aesthetics as their chief complaints, and these complaints were improved significantly after treatment.

The improvement in patient-reported chief complaints can be used to inform patients prior to treatment.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40510-025-00572-4.