Sagittal ramus split osteotomy: literature review and suggested modification of technique

The sagittal ramus split osteotomy could be the procedure which defined the evolution of the specialty of oral surgery, the art, to the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery, the science. The basic design of the sagittal ramus split surgical procedure evolved very quickly. The elimination of the problems encountered has taken longer. Some of these problems are yet to be satisfactorily resolved. This paper presents a review of the literature which appears to define the evolution of this procedure. With this information in mind, a minor modification in the traditional mandibular sagittal ramus technique is presented. This modification has proven to be valuable in our hands.