Obturator Prosthesis Rehabilitation after Maxillectomy: Functional and Aesthetical Analysis in 25 Patients

Massimo Corsalini, Giuseppe Barile, Santo Catapano, Annamaria Ciocia, Assunta Casorelli, Rosaria Siciliani, Daniela Di Venere and Saverio Capodiferro
Additional contact information
Massimo Corsalini: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Giuseppe Barile: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Santo Catapano: Dental Clinic, Dental School, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Annamaria Ciocia: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Assunta Casorelli: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Rosaria Siciliani: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Daniela Di Venere: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy
Saverio Capodiferro: Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70124 Bari, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-8

Abstract: The number of patients undergoing a surgical resection of the maxilla for oncological reasons is constantly increasing, the most common complication of which remains the communication between oral and nasal cavities. On the basis of data arising from the literature regarding the treatment options of maxillary oncological post-surgical defects, obturator prosthesis remains the most used worldwide. We studied 25 patients (with at least 1-year follow up) rehabilitated by obturator prosthesis after maxillary resection leading to oro-nasal communication, providing data on the objective/subjective evaluation of such rehabilitation and mastication performance measured by a two-color chewing gum test. The type of defect was classified according to the classification system proposed by Aramany. Among the patients in our study, 72% rated a higher score for either stability and retention than for aesthetic appearance, as confirmed by the Kapur score rated by clinicians. The two-color chewing gum test shows similar results as only one patient had insufficient chewing function. Interestingly, we found no correlation between the masticatory function and residual denture, confirming that the maxillary obturator remains a predictable solution in such patients regardless of the anatomical alterations following surgery.

Keywords: maxillary obturator prosthesis; maxillary neoplasms; post-surgical complications; quality of life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12524/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12524/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12524-:d:689900

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().