A parenchymatous defect in the oral and maxillofacial areas and the accompanying functional and aesthetic problems pose a major psychological handicap to the patient involved. Such a defect may result from a tumor, trauma or congenital malformation.
Reconstructive methods for maxillofacial defects may be divided into two categories: repair through surgical reconstruction and maxillofacial prosthetic reconstruction, which is based on the maxillary or facial prosthesis. Although such a prosthetic reconstruction has its merits as a non-invasive repairing method, the clinical results usually depend on the prosthetic setting and how securely a prosthetic appliance can be immobilized in the problematic region. For this reason, not a few cases of this disease require a combined preprosthetic surgery. In this study, we successfully implanted titanium spiral dental implants prior to prosthetic reconstruction with a maxillofacial prosthetic appliance used at an improved setting. Presented herein is the summary of our experiences and a report on two cases we have encountered. Case 1 was a 72-year-old man with a palatal hemidefect that had appeared after treatment of maxillogingival cancer. The patient was fitted with a maxillary prosthesis. Case 2 was 6-year-old girl with auricular aplasia of the first and second branchial archesyndrome, who was then treated by means of auricular epithesis. In both caes, titanium spiral dental implants (known as “Cherchéve” in French) were implanted to ensure good prosthetic fixation and favorable clinical results.
