Patients requesting treatment for mandibular prognathism seek functional and aesthetic improvements. Improvements in bite force and efficiency are generally used as measures of better function. It is unclear what effect the surgical correction of mandibular prognathism will have on the patient's occlusal forces. The literature was searched using medical subject heading (MeSH) and key word terms 'bite force', 'osteotomy', 'orthognathic surgery', and 'prognathism'. A total of 17 articles were included in this review. These included a total of 697 patients, who ranged in age from 15 to 44 years. Male patients outnumbered female patients in only one study. Five hundred and thirty-two patients underwent bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, 108 patients underwent intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy, and 24 patients underwent extraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (approach unspecified). In general, masticatory efficiency at 3 months after surgery was greater than that found pre-surgically; the increase was significant at 6 months after surgery. The occlusal contact area and points tended to increase from 3 months after surgery, and there was a significant increase at 12 months after surgery. Occlusal forces, although improved, will be lower in corrected prognathic patients than in normognathic patients even at 2 years after surgery.