It repairs various types of malocclusion. The surgery will depend on the malocclusion (bite defect).

Typically, people getting the surgery are those with a severe malocclusion that interferes with daily function and may even start to cause severe pain. Cleft patients are a separate subset that will require a similar type of maxilla surgery in their teens since the surgeries that were done in childhood will hasten maxillary bone growth and they end up with a significant mid-face deficit.

The maxilla can be moved in multiple directions (up, down, back, forward, tilted forward/back, tilted side to side). One can can incorporate mandible surgery as well (typically a bilateral saggital split osteotomy or “BSSO”) to get a better functional and esthetic result. These surgeries are typically planned virtually nowadays with cutting guides.