Materials and techniques in maxillofacial prosthodontic rehabilitation

This article summarizes the English literature about current materials and techniques applied in maxillofacial prosthodontic rehabilitation that were cited in the MEDLINE database between the years 1990 and 2000 (Table 1). The evaluated articles were categorized into three different groups: (1) reviews, case reports, editorials, (2) laboratory studies and animal studies, and (3) human trials, either with or without control group or randomization. Case reports, review articles and editorials clearly predominated the literature search with two thirds of the publications, followed by laboratory and animal studies with one fifth of the articles. Only 14%, or every seventh of the published articles about maxillofacial prosthodontics, reported results in the form of human trials. The presented uneven distribution in favor of anecdotal reports rather than scientifically based hard data reflects the typical character of modern maxillofacial prosthodontics. It is definitely the art and science to rehabilitate esthetics and function of patients with acquired, congenital, and developmental defects of the head and neck [4]. Similar findings with a predominance of case reports and a small number of human trials were reported elsewhere, recently [141]. This article concentrates on the scientific facets of maxillofacial prosthodontic rehabilitation based on laboratory, animal, and human studies. Developments in materials and techniques that occurred during the last 10 years were subdivided into (1) materials and techniques with conventional facial prostheses and elastomers, (2) recent developments with acrylic resins, (3) presurgical orthopedics in cleft palate patients, (4) conventional obturator prostheses (surgical, interim, definitive), (5) conventional palatal lift prostheses, palatal augmentation prostheses, and speech aid prostheses, including prosthetics with glossectomy and mandibulectomy patients, (6) implants in maxillofacial prosthodontic rehabilitation, and (7) financing, costs, and quality of life.