[Surgery of asymmetry].

Endeavoring to present, within a few pages, an exhaustive work of all the surgical proposals, regarding the multitude of ethiopathogeneses, is quite utopic. The author considers the evaluation of the asymmetrical patient and underlines in the complementary examinations the advantage of 3D tomodensitometry. A chapter is devoted to presurgical orthodontic preparation aimed at counteracting the compensations, which affect the maxillary and mandibular alveolar support. The therapeutic strategy calls upon "combined" programs. A "range" of osteotomies is suggested within the framework of the most frequent dysmorphoses. Two more complex pathologies, which may be met by the orthodontist, are evoked: condylar hyperplasia and temporomandibular ankylosis related to inflammatory affections and traumatisms. Glossoplasty is the rule in some hemihypertrophies. Relapses, hindering the stability of the result, can be thwarted by overcorrections, different means of splinting and postoperative kinesitherapy. Iconography and clinical observations illustrate both the orthodontist's and the surgeon's approach: they heighten the reader's awareness of the various problems linked with asymmetry.