• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.337-342
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• 2011

Congenital or traumatic loss on the oral and maxillary area or the loss of jaws due to the surgical excision of a tumor causes functional problems, such as masticatory and swallowing disorders, phonetic problems and psychological disorders in patients. In most cases, a prosthetic restoration is needed to resolve these problems and restore the damaged tissue and function. When loss occurs on the maxilla, foods and liquids leak into the nasal cavity, and a nasal sound can be heard due to air leakage into the removed area. In these cases, the palatal obturator can be used to improve the esthetic and functional aspects because it restores the removed area of the maxilla and closes the opened route between the oral cavity and maxillary sinus or nasal cavity. In this case report, a palatal obturator was applied to patients who had a hemimaxillectomy due to the occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma on the right maxillary area. Therefore, fundamental functions, such as phonetic and swallowing functions were restored, and the esthetic aspects of the facial profile were improved.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.353-360
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• 2013

Cleft lip and palate is congenital deformity in oral and maxillofacial area. Normal soft palate has velopharyngeal closure action by connecting oral cavity and nasal cavity at rest and moving upward at swallowing and specific pronunciation. Cleft palate patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency have difficulty in mastication, swallowing and pronunciation because velopharyngeal closure is incomplete. At this time, a prosthetic device used to cover palate defects is called a palatal obturator. A palatal obturator separates oral cavity and nasal cavity and recovers pronunciation, mastication, swallowing and esthetic function. The purpose of this case study is to report the results because it reaches a satisfactory result in functional and esthetic aspects through functional impression procedures using modeling compound and tissue conditioner for restoration of a cleft palate patient with velopharyngeal insufficiency.

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2007

이차구개는 발생과정에서 구개선반의 형성과 성장, 거상과 융합의 과정을 통해 형성된다. 이와 같은 이차구개의 형성과정은 미세한 분자유전학적 신호전달기전에 의해 조절되는 것으로 알려져 있어서, 신호전달과정에 관여하는 유전인자의 발현이상이 되면 정상적인 이차구개가 형성되지 못하고 구개파열이라는 선천성 기형이 발생된다. 구개파열의 유발인자들에 대한 많은 연구에도 불구하고 현재까지 정상적인 이차구개의 형성을 조절하는 분자유전학적 기전에 대해서는 명확히 알려져 있지 않다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 이차구개의 형태분화를 조절하는 분자유전학적 기전을 알아보고자, 이차구개 형성의 내적 조절인자 중 핵심유전자로 알려져 있는 Osr2가 결손된 생쥐의 이차구개 형성과정에서 정상생쥐에 비해 발현의 변동이 나타나는 유전자를 확인하였다. 유전자 발현의 변동은 발생 14.5일(E14.5)의 구개선반으로부터 추출한 total RNA를 이용하여 ACP-based GeneFishing PCR을 시행하여 확인하였고, 각각의 변동된 유전자를 동정하여 정상생쥐의 이차구개 형성과정에서의 발현양상을 in situ hybridization을 시행하여 확인하였다. 총 120쌍의 primer를 이용한 검색을 통해서 정상생쥐의 구개선반에 비해 mutant에서 발현이 변동된 유전자는 7개가 검출되었고, 이들은 모두 정상생쥐에 비해 mutant에서 발현이 증가되는 것으로 확인되었다. 검출된 유전자는 vimentin(Vim), ${\beta}$-tropomyosin 2(Tpm2), thioredoxin-like 5(Txnl5), procollagen type II alpha 1(Col2a1), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7(IGFbp7), Sui 1 homologs(Sui 1), Defender against cell death1(Dad1)이었다. 검출된 유전자를 동정하여 정상생쥐의 구개 형성과정에서의 발현양상을 알아본 결과, Col2a1 을 제외한 유전자들은 모두 E13.5의 구개선반에서 특이적으로 발현되고 있었으나 구개선반이 융합된 E15.5에서는 Vim, Txnl5 그리고 Dad1 만이 봉합선을 따라 발현이 지속되고 있었다. 이상의 결과로 보아 검출된 유전자들은 구개선반의 형태분화과정에서 발현되어 이차구개의 형성과정에 관여할 것으로 여겨진다. 또한 이들은 이차구개 형성의 내적조절인자인 Osr2의 downstream target 으로 구개선반의 성장과 융합과정에 직접적으로 관여하는 유전물질일 것으로 추정된다.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.338-345
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• 1991

Velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) is a condition of inadequate functional valving between the oral and nasal cavities that results in hypernasal speech and nasal air escape. VPI is caused by the following factors ; cleft palate, soft palate defect, pharyngomegaly, velopharyngeal sphincter muscle anomaly and maxillary advancement surgery, etc. Velopharyngeal function is assessed by a variety of measures that include speech evaluation, cephalogram, airflow study, videofluoroscopy and nasoendoscopy. The management of VPI is classified into four main groups ; prosthesis, insertion of implant, palatoplasty and pharyngoplasty. Pharyngeal flap is the most common surgical procedure for correcting VPI since Schoenborn's report in 1875. We report seven cases of VPI which were treated by modified modified superiorly based pharyngeal flap with good results.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.356-363
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• 2019

A patient who went through maxillectomy can have soft palate defects including oronasal fistulas and suffer from dysphagia and dysarthria due to velopharyngeal insufficiency. This defect causes the food to enter nasal cavity and creates hypernasal sound which debilitates a quality of life. An obturator can rehabilitate the substantial oral tissue defects. The maxillary obturator separates the nasopharynx from the oropharynx during speech and deglutition by closing of the defect. For edentulous obturator patient, it is difficult to obtain proper retention due to reduced peripheral sealing. Therefore, the contours of the defects must be used to maximize the retention, stability, and support. Hollow type obturator can improve physiologic function by reducing weight than the traditional obturator. This case report describes a patient with hemi-maxillectomy who recovers mastication, speech, deglutition, and appearance with a maxillary obturator using physiological border molding of the velopharyngeal area and double-processing method.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.455-459
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• 2003

The Reconstructive techniques of palatal defect are palatal island flap, palatal mucoperiosteal expansion, buccal flap, tongue flap, pushback palatoplasty, free flap and so on. We report a reconstruction of palatal defect using palatal flap. Excellent results were obtained by palatal connective tissue island flap and split thickness pedicle flap. Healing of defect occured rapidly. There were no postoperative complications except dull pain.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.222-228
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• 2011

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to evaluate the stress distributions and the displacements of obturator for edentulous maxillectomy patients and to compare them with those of complete denture using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Materials and methods: Based on the CT image of edentulous patient, three-dimensional finite element model of edentulous maxillae was constructed. Three-dimensional finite element model of edentulous maxillae with palatal defect was also fabricated. On each model, complete denture and obturator prosthesis were created. Vertical static force of 200 N was applied on the left maxillary premolar and molar region. The von Mises stress values and the displacements of models were analyzed using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Results: Maximum von Mises stress values were recorded in the cortical bones of both models. The von Mises stress value in the complete denture model was 2.73 MPa and 2.69 MPa in the obturator model. High von Mises stress values were also observed on the tissue surface of prosthesis. The maximum value of the displacement in the obturator was higher than that of complete denture. Conclusion: The obturator showed a worse result in terms of stress distribution and displacement than complete denture. In the prosthodontic rehabilitation of edentulous maxillectomy patient accurate impression procedure based on patients'anatomy and application of prosthodontic principle should be considered.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.281-293
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• 2021

Patients who went through maxillectomy can have severely impaired swallowing, mastication, and pronunciation functions because of palatal defects. Leakage occurs through the nasal cavity while eating, chewing becomes difficult due to the loss of teeth and alveolar ridges, and oral and nasal passages are not separated, leading to hyper-nasal sound, and significantly reducing the quality of life. To prosthetically reconstruct the defect, the weight of the obturator should be reduced as much as possible to minimize dropout because of gravity, and the bulb of the obturator should be properly extended into the defect to get additional retention and stability. In this case of a partially edentulous patient who underwent additional maxillary resection because of tumor recurrence, a metal framework was designed by applying the basic design principles of removable partial dentures. An obturator with improved retention, stability, and support was fabricated through functional impressions. The patient was satisfied with the improved facial expression, mastication, swallowing, and pronunciation, and showed stable occlusion and oral hygiene management during the follow-up period.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.189-193
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the frequency of different classes of partial edentulism and the most frequently used design components of conventional removable partial dentures. Materials and methods: 63 patients who were treated with removable partial denture in Kyungpook National University hospital for 2003-2006 were selected. A total of 76 removable partial denture frameworks were investigated. Kennedy classification was used to identify the class of partial edentulism. Results: Results indicated that Kennedy class I removable partial dentures were the most frequently constructed. Most patients' cases were designed without modification areas. Conclusion: The most common type of direct retainer were the RPI clasp and RPA clasp in both maxilla and mandible. Lingual bar, linguoplate and anterior posterior palatal straps were the more frequently used mandibular and maxillary major connectors respectively. We did not have any case about Kennedy class IV patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the functional abilities of the low bulb obturators with those of high bulb obturators in terms of patients' evaluation. Material and methods: This study included 11 maxillectomy patients who underwent postoperative prosthodontic rehabilitations. Two obturators of the same design except for different bulb heights, were fabricated for each of the maxillectomy patient. After two months of alternate use, the functions of the obturators were measured by investigating the patients' subjective evaluations in terms of convenience, speech, nasality, leakage, and mastication and identifying their preferred prostheses. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used as a statistical method (P < .05). Results: There were no significant differences in patient evaluations of low and high bulb obturators (P >.05). And patients' preferences varied. Conclusion: In extreme situation such as in mouth opening limitation, the use of low bulb obturators can be recommended and result in comparable speech function to that of obturators with high lateral walls.