_In this article, you will be introduced to the concepts,goalsandtechniquesneededtodiagnosis surgical cases, when surgical cases should be started and how to gain the knowledge needed to create successful results. We’ll delve into joint status, soft-tissue analysis, surgical treatment objectives, pre-treatment surgical setups and surgical setups. We’ll then follow-up by looking at the concepts of natural head position, the axis-horizontal plane and the true vertical line will be introduced.Bytheendofthisarticle,youshouldhave: _Anoverviewoftheknowledgeneededforsuccess- ful treatment. _An introduction into what, when and how to per- form successful cases. _An overview of joint health. _A summary of the soft-tissue analysis. _An outline of the surgical treatment objective. _An overview of diagnostic and surgical setups. Remember that this article is an introduction only; it’s not intended to teach you how to do sur - gical cases. Advanced training will be needed to master successful orthognathic surgical cases. So with no further ado, let’s get started. _Functional occlusion Thegoalistoobtainfunctionalocclusion.Before treatment, you have to determine if you have an orthognathic surgery case. You don’t want to begin orthodontic treatment with the idea that if ortho- dontics fails, we will do surgery. You’ll see in Figures 1–3 that this case involves every facet of dentistry. Changes occurred not only in the facial features, but also in the teeth them- selves. It involved orthodontic and orthognathic surgery, but also lengthening the front teeth by the restorative dentist to achieve the natural smile in balance (Figs. 1–2). To this end, we need to look at five areas: _joint status, _soft-tissue analysis, _surgical treatment objective, I CE article _ orthognatic surgery Fig. 1a_Patient profile. Fig. 1b_Patient frontal. (Photos provided by Dr Theodore D. Freeland) 06 I cone beam3_2014 Fig. 1a Fig. 1b Concepts, goals and techniques for successful orthognatic surgery Author_Dr Theodore D. Freeland, USA ThisarticlequalifiesforCEcredit. To take the CE quiz,log on to www.dtstudyclub.com. Click on‘CE articles’ and search for this edition of the magazine.If you are not registered with the site, you will be asked to do so before taking the quiz. _ce credit conebeam CBE0314_06-15_Freeland 30.09.14 14:13 Seite 1