Volume 15, Number 1, March 2003
| | Masticatory Function after Jaw Resection and Rehabilitation with Dental Implants |
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Koichiro Ihara,1 Masaaki Goto2
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan
2Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan
Abstract
Objective: To assess masticatory function after jaw resection and prosthodontic treatment using implants and to evaluate the effectiveness of such treatment.
Patients and Methods: Masticatory function was investigated in 21 patients who underwent jaw resection and 23 non-resection patients rehabilitated with dental implants. Twenty-eight volunteers with natural dentition acted as control subjects. Masticatory function was assessed by 4 tests and the 3 groups were compared.
Results: No significant differences in all tests were found between the control group and the non-resection patients. There were significant differences in masseter muscle action potential amplitudes between patients who underwent jaw resection and the other groups. No specificity was seen in the factor score distribution in the principal component analysis.
Conclusion: Masticatory function can be restored to almost normal levels by appropriate reconstruction of soft tissues combined with prosthodontic treatment with dental implants, even for patients undergoing jaw resection.
Key words: Dental implants, Jaw, Mastication, Principal component analysis
Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2003;15:19-30.
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