• 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.39 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2023

Maxillary bone defects may follow surgical treatment of benign and malignant tumors, trauma, and infection. Palatal defects often lead to problems with swallowing and pronunciation from the leakage of air into the nasal cavity and sinus. Obturators have been commonly used to solve these problems, but long-term use of the device may cause irritation of the oral mucosa or damage to the abutment teeth. Utilizing implants in the edentulous area for the fabrication of the obturators has gained attention. This case report describes a patient, who had undergone partial resection of the maxilla due to adenocarcinoma, in need of a new obturator after losing abutment teeth after long-term use of the previous obturator. Implants were placed in strategic locations, and an implant-retained maxillary obturator was fabricated, showing satisfactory results in the rehabilitation of multiple aspects, including palatal defect, masticatory function, swallowing, pronunciation, and aesthetics.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to observe the trend of compounds release from acrylic resin oral prosthesis when used for drug delivery as well as a restoration. In this study, 10 specimens of heat-cured polymethylmethacrylate material were prepared and loaded with methylene blue biological stain. The specimens were then submerged in vials with 5 ml distilled water for 24 hours. The extraction procedure continued for 4 days, each day the specimens were immersed in another 5 ml distilled water vial. All extracted solutions were analyzed by visible light spectroscopy for absorbance comparison. The statistical results showed that the absorbance values were significantly different in the first day of extraction than the following days. However, there was no statistical difference among the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th days of extraction. Biological stain loading to acrylic resin at the mixing stage, and then after extraction in distilled water, showed a burst release during the first day followed by a constant release during the following few days.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2015

PURPOSE. To assess function by identifying changes in swallowing and masticatory performance in maxillary obturator prosthesis wearers. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Sixty subjects were recruited for the study, of which 20 were obturator wearers, 20 were completely dentulous and 20 had removable partial/complete dentures with similar Eichner's Index. Swallowing ability was evaluated with and without obturator using the "Water Drinking Test"; Masticatory performance was evaluated with the Sieve test; and maximum occlusal force was recorded with the help of a digital bite sensor. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 15.0 with a confidence level at 95%. RESULTS. Profile, behavior of drinking and time taken to drink were significantly improved (P<.001) in subjects after wearing obturator. Masticatory performance was not significantly different (P=.252) in obturator wearer when compared with dentulous or removable partial/complete denture wearer, but significantly (P<.001) high inter group difference in maximum occlusal force existed. Correlation between masticatory performance and maximum occlusal force was not significant (P=.124). CONCLUSION. Swallowing ability was significantly improved after wearing obturator but masticatory performance was not significantly different from those having similar occlusal support zone in their dentition.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.198-204
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• 2017

Maxillofacial defect comes from congenital defect, trauma and surgical resection. Patients with intraoral defect are commonly related to maxillary defect and they need prosthetic rehabilitation. Functional reconstruction of partially edentulous mandible has many limitations. However, if both condyles are intact, maxillofacial prosthesis using partial denture give competent results. In this case, a patient of 58 year-old male has a defect on palate and left mandibular posterior teeth from gunshot. The maxillary defect of this patient is Class IV according to Aramany classification and the mandibular one is Type V according to Cantor and Curtis classification. For retention of the obturator, remaining teeth are fully utilized and artificial teeth are arranged harmoniously to provide stable occlusion. Mandibular RPD covered limited range of deformed soft tissue derived from mandibular resection surgery. With these treatments, the patient in this case showed improvements in mastication, swallowing and speech.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-357
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• 2016

Rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients is challenging. The maxillary defects need to functional restoration because of mastication, speech, swallowing problems. The goal of making obturator is to restore maxillary defects and give patients comfortable, esthetic prosthesis. This case report presents acquired masticatory and esthetic results and improved retention resulting from the pharyngeal obturator prosthesis using implant.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2017

Most patients with acquired maxillary surgical defects have difficulties such as functional impairments of mastication, speech, and deglutition as well as various degrees of facial deformity. The purpose of a prosthetic approach is to restore function and appearance with an obturator as normal as possible. This goal can be achieved when there is thoughful preoperative communication between a prosthodontist and a surgeon regarding a rehabilitation. In this case report, prosthetic rehabilitation was planned before the surgery for the patient diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the right maxillary sinus with careful oral examination. Four months after maxillectomy, a definitive obturator was fabricated following the surgical and interim obturation phase. The objective of this case report is to describe the satisfactory results of the patient with improved rehabilitation of mastication, speech, deglutition, and appearance.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.39
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• pp.13.1-13.8
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• 2017

Background: Oronasal/antral communication, loss of teeth and/or tooth-supporting bone, and facial contour deformity may occur as a consequence of maxillectomy for cancer. As a result, speaking, chewing, swallowing, and appearance are variably affected. The restoration is focused on rebuilding the oronasal wall, using either flaps (local or free) for primary closure, either prosthetic obturator. Postoperative radiotherapy surely postpones every dental procedure aimed to set fixed devices, often makes it difficult and risky, even unfeasible. Regular prosthesis, tooth-bearing obturator, and endosseous implants (in native and/or transplanted bone) are used in order to complete dental rehabilitation. Zygomatic implantology (ZI) is a valid, usually delayed, multi-staged procedure, either after having primarily closed the oronasal/antral communication or after left it untreated or amended with obturator. The present paper is an early report of a relatively new, one-stage approach for rehabilitation of patients after tumour resection, with palatal repair with loco-regional flaps and zygomatic implant insertion: supposed advantages are concentration of surgical procedures, reduced time of rehabilitation, and lowered patient discomfort. Cases presentation: We report three patients who underwent alveolo-maxillary resection for cancer and had the resulting oroantral communication directly closed with loco-regional flaps. Simultaneous zygomatic implant insertion was added, in view of granting the optimal dental rehabilitation. Conclusions: All surgical procedures were successful in terms of oroantral separation and implant survival. One patient had the fixed dental restoration just after 3 months, and the others had to receive postoperative radiotherapy; thus, rehabilitation timing was longer, as expected. We think this approach could improve the outcome in selected patients.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.669-676
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• 1999

The dentigerous cysts originate through alteration of the reduced enamel epithelium after amelogenesis is completed, with accumulation of fluid between the layers of the enamel epithelium, or between this epithelium and the tooth crown. Next to the radicular cyst, they are the second most common type of odontogenic cyst. They occur over a wide age range with a peak frequency in the 2nd to 3rd decade. A substantial majority involve the mandibular third molars, followed in order of frequency by the maxillary permanent canines, mandibular second premolars, and maxillary third molars. With regard to the treatment of these cysts, the marsupialization procedure with obturator is recommended during the age when the eruptive force of the teeth is still strong. It can be effective when preservation of the displaced teeth is desirable. We treated the dentigerous cyst by marsupialization with obturator and guided the eruption of involved teeth to normal position. And we got the results as follows : 1. Severely dislocated teeth associated with dentigerous cyst erupted into proper position. 2. The enamel hypoplasia and the root deformity were observed some cases. 3. The bone expansion and defect were healed without infection and recurrence.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2016

The maxillary defects lead to anatomical and functional deformity of the maxillofacial region. As far as functions are concerned, such defects can produce difficulty in speech, mastication, and deglutition. Obturator prostheses play a very important role in functional recovery for post-maxillectomy patients. To achieve rigidity of the obturator, appropriate retention should be given, and the weight of the prosthesis be reduced. There are two types of hollow bulb obturator: open and closed. A closed type has many advantages. Nevertheless, some problems, including complexity of fabrication and water leakage into the bulb, have the closed hollow obturator not be widely used. The one-step polymerization technique described in this case overcomes the shortcomings by easily constructing a small hollow bulb with two thermoplastic resin sheets.