• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2010

Maxillectomy is a treatment option for maxillary cancer, which leaves the patient with a palatal defect. It may cause problems with facial deformation, swallowing, mastication, and speech. These functional problems and changes in appearance may result in psychological problems. To control these deficits after maxillectomy, surgical reconstruction or prosthodontic treatment can be chosen as a treatment option. Obturator prosthesis has been used as a preferred method of rehabilitation for most maxillectomy patients. This case is a patient who was classified Aramany classification II hemi-maxillectomy patient with residual teeth from #11-25, whose teeth had substantial labioversion and clinically lengthened from alveolar bone involution, thus making it hard to select proper framework design and resist to the rotational dislodging force of the obturator. Therefore we selected swing-lock attachment design to remain pre-existing crown and bridges and obtain retention and stability of obturator. The swing-lock RPD is economical than the conventional RPD because we can remain pre-existing crown and bridges. And residual teeth which have mobility and poor prognosis can be successfully retained through properly designed swing-lock RPD as it is functioning as a removable splint on the teeth.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2016

Patients undergone partial maxillectomy experience post-operative masticatory, phonetic, and swallowing difficulties. They also encounter social and psychological challenges due to changes in their facial appearances. Thus, functional and esthetic recovery through maxillofacial prosthesis becomes significant for these patients. The objective of an appropriate obturator is to restore palate and improve phonetic and swallowing ability by separating the oral cavity, nasal cavity, maxillary sinus, and nasopharynx. In this case report, an obturator was fabricated for a patient who had partial resection from the maxillary posterior region to the pharynx due to squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of this case study is to describe the results because the patient was successfully improved both functionally and esthetically.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2016

Reconstruction of the maxillectomy with an obturator is to restore masticatory, swallowing, phonetic and esthetic problems. Stress created by lateral forces is minimized by the proper selection of an occlusal scheme, elimination of premature occlusal contacts, and wide distribution of supporting area. It should be considered that properly designed retainers reduce the stresses transmitted to the abutment while the obturator is in function. The following clinical report presents palatal obturator treatment with implant assisted removable partial denture (IARPD) design that restores normal function and esthetics in patients who experienced maxillectomy and dental implant failure.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2020

Maxillectomy is performed to remove the tumor in the palate, maxillary sinus, buccal mucosa or nasal cavity. The resection range depends on the size and the extent of the tumor and it affects speech production or cause nasal regurgitation during feeding. Obturator can occlude an opening such as an oro-nasal fistula and protect the defect area. Successful reconstrucion of the patient's oral cavity who have gone over the maxillectomy is a difficult task. The condition and number of teeth, the remaining support area, and the extent of the defect area have a great influence on manufacturing the obturator. If these factors are disadvantageous, the prognosis of the prosthesis is uncertain. The final obturator must have a sufficient retention in the patient's oral cavity and must not irritate the surrounding tissue and support area where the resection was performed.In this case, a 55 year old female went through the maxillectomy and the only 3 teeth remained. And the retention of the maxillary prosthesis seems to be poor. So that, we fabricated the closed hollow obturator which has reduced weight compared to the conventional obturator. Consequently the closed hollow obturator can give better sealing and the adaptation.

• 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.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2018

Prosthetic rehabilitation of an edentulous patient who has a maxillary defect is difficult to achieve for many clinicians. The maxillary defect causes leakage of air during pronunciation and compromises denture stability, support and retention by reducing denture-bearing area and breaking peripheral seal. In these patients, the sizes and shapes of defects are very important factors which attribute to prognosis of maxillary obturators. This case report shows the prosthetic rehabilitation of the patient who had maxillectomy on the right maxillary sinus because of squamous cell carcinoma. The patient had a stepwise treatment protocol which started with pre-operative dental examination and followed by surgical, interim and definitive obturation phase. In this case, an acceptable level of retention could be obtained due to well-defined static defects and the preserved premaxillae and the patient was satisfied with the result of the treatment in the aspect of function and esthetics.

• 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.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.239-245
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• 2018

If complication arises after glossectomy which leads to trouble in forming food bolus or transfer of the food, it is possible that either food bolus may block the airway or dysphagia may occur as the food bolus goes down into the airway. To solve the issue, palatal augmentation prosthesis could be used. In this case, the patient with an oral cancer is having difficulties swallowing food after glossectomy. Through taking impressions of polishing surface of his denture referring his tongue movement, the complete denture for the upper jaw was created using the concept of palatal augmentation prosthesis. This new upper denture increases the palatal-tongue contact pressure, allowing the patient to perform better swallowing and better pronunciation.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.319-324
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• 2017

Patients with maxillectomy defects predisposed to not only difficulty in deglutition, mastication, speech but also psychological depression from impaired facial esthetics that affect life quality. Obturator prostheses play a important role in restoring the lost form, function and the quality of life for patients with maxillectomy defects. This clinical report presents the simplified approach to predict the degree of adequate facial support by Artificial palate which reflected from a maxillary interim obturator during the stabilization period after maxillectomy.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.23 no.12 s.199
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• pp.1003-1003
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• 1985