1999 Volume 12 Issue 4 Pages 511-518
It was reported that osseointegrated implant prosthesis, when applied to partially or totally edentulous cases, could recover better occlusal and masticatory function than conventional removable dentures. This clinical experience of increasing the function is beter when the osseointegrated implant prosthesis is adapted for the reconstructed jaws following the resection of oral tumors. However, the quantitative analysis concerning the recovery of masticatory function has not been performed yet. The masticatory function in 5 patients was evaluated using color-changing chewing gum. The recovery rate of masticatory function accounted for 15.5% in mean data. Furthermore, the mean value was almost equal to that of normal dentulous people. The function was recovered more in the maxillary resected case than mandiblar resected cases. Among the mandiblectomized cases, masticatory function of condyle-preserved cases were recovered more than condyle-resected cases. From the results, it was concluded that the osseointegrated implant prosthesis can recover the nasticatory function of jaw bone resected patients to close to the normal level.
