Dental and Maxillofacial Prosthodontic Treatment in a General Hospital

Abstract

It has been a long time since the importance of the team approach and multidisciplinary cooperation was advocated. In patients with head and neck cancer, a team approach is essential not only for the treatment of the tumor but also for the subsequent morphological and functional recovery. There have been many reports on the establishment and implementation of interdisciplinary maxillofacial rehabilitation systems in university hospitals, but there are few such reports in general hospital dentistry.
Our department provides dental care to support acute care in the hospital. The role of our department is to provide comprehensive treatment, including prevention of oral complications by dental means and improvement of feeding, swallowing, occlusion, and speech. We also provide specialized dental care such as the fabrication of maxillofacial prostheses for patients with head and neck cancer, and training and assistive devices for patients with dysphasia. We consider that maxillofacial prosthetic treatment has both rehabilitation and plastic surgery aspects, and that broadening the scope of indication can improve the patient’s QOL. We would like to continue to explore the activities of our institution.