抄録
For the recovery from functional disorder and deteriorated QOL in maxillectomy patients, prosthetic rehabilitation should be started soon after an operation. We apply an Early Stage Prosthesis （ESP）, which was fabricated from a pre-surgical impression, to maxillectomy patients while hospitalized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcome of ESP on the recovery of patients' QOL. A questionnaire survey using EORTC QLQ-H&N35 was carried out for 18 maxillectomy patients （12 males and 6 females, average age 60.9 yrs.）, in which 10 patients were applied an immediate surgical obturator （ISO） and ESP （ESP group）, and eight were applied ISO and ordinary dent-maxillary prosthesis （Ordinary group）. The QOL relating to speech, eating and social contact in the ESP group was significantly better than that in the Ordinary group. The results indicate that the ESP could be effective for improving QOL in maxillectomy patients.
