Maxillofacial Prosthetics

―Future Prospects from 39 Years of Clinical Experience―

Abstract

The goal of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment is to restore functional disorders in mastication, deglutition, speech and esthetics due to cleft lip palate, tumor, trauma and so on to the original condition. However, the functional and esthetic disorders of maxillofacial prosthetic patients differ due to the wide variety of original diseases and defect shapes, and their degrees are serious compared with those of general prosthodontic patients. In addition, when these disorders are left, they are not separate but have mutual effects on each other as after-effects, and cause mental and psychological suffering.
To enjoy seeing, eating and talking together is the natural right of human beings, but it is not easy for maxillofacial prosthetic treatment to fulfill those goals of maxillofacial prosthetic patients. To optimize the results of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment and maintain the results stably for a long time, organic collaboration among related medical faculties and dentistry is essential for every stage of surgery, preoperative, operative and postoperative. Mutual recognition of fundamental items and exchange of information among related clinics are also necessary.
I have been engaged in maxillofacial prosthetic treatment for thirty-nine years and describe the future prospects of maxillofacial prosthetics based on my clinical experience.