Objective To analyze the effect of individualized targeted nursing on patients undergoing orthognathic surgery for dental and maxillofacial deformities. Methods A total of 30 patients with dental and maxillofacial deformities who underwent orthognathic surgery in our hospital from January 2022 to January 2024 were randomly divided into control group and observation group, with 15 patients in each group. The control group received routine nursing, and the observation group received individualized targeted nursing. The incidence of complications, nursing satisfaction, adverse emotions, rehabilitation index and quality of life were compared between the two groups. Results The incidence of complications in the observation group was 6.67%, which was lower than 53.33% in the control group (P <0.05). The nursing satisfaction of the observation group was 100.00%, which was higher than 66.67% of the control group (P <0.05). The SAS and SDS scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (P <0.05). The suture removal time and hospitalization time in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion Individualized targeted nursing is effective in patients undergoing orthognathic surgery for dental and maxillofacial deformities, which can effectively reduce the incidence of postoperative complications, improve nursing satisfaction, improve patients' adverse emotions, shorten recovery time, and improve patients' quality of life.