• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.248-253
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• 2012

Maxillary obturator prosthesis is the most frequent treatment option for management of partial or total maxillectomy. Heavy weight of the obturators is often a dislocating factor. Hollowing the prosthesis to reduce its weight is the well established fact. The alternate technique to hollow-out the prosthesis has been described in this article which is a variation of previously described processing techniques. A pre-shaped wax-bolus was incorporated inside the flasks during packing of the heat-polymerized acrylic resin to automatically create the hollow space. The processing technique described is a single step flasking procedure to construct a closed-hollow-obturator prosthesis as a single unit. To best understand the technique, this article describes management of a patient who had undergone partial maxillectomy secondary to squamous cell carcinoma rehabilitated with a hollow-obturator prosthesis.

• 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.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.207-212
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• 1988

Maxillary defects are a result of necessary cancer surgery, congenital anomaly or trauma. Ideally the patient with the aquired maxillary defect should be provided with an obturator prosthesis that is comfortable, restores adequate speech, deglutition, and mastication, and is acceptable cosmetically. This is a case report of open type hollow obturator delivered in the partial maxillectomy treated patient. The satisfied result obtained as follows: The open type hollow obturator has the advantage of easy fabrication, lightness, easy cleaning and restores adquate speech.

• 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.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2019

This case report presents a closed hollow bulb obturator made by 3D printing for a maxillectomy patient. Final impression was taken according to the instructions and impression trays provided by the Magic $denture^{TM}$ system. Vertical dimension, facial appearance, and retention had been checked with the try-in denture. The try-in denture was corrected and adjusted to fulfill the demand of the patients, then these were reflected to the final design of the denture. The defect area was designed as a closed hollow bulb shape to reduce the weight and to provide uniform thickness of the denture. The patient satisfied with the esthetics and function of the denture.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.349-355
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• 2020

The use of an obturator prosthesis for patients with maxillary defects is a common treatment method to improve their oral function and achieve esthetic satisfaction. However, due to various difficulties and complexities, conventional methods for fabricating dental obturators continue to pose a challenge for dentists and patients, as well as laboratory technicians. CAD-CAM technologies may make it simple to fabricate maxillofacial prostheses including hollow obturators, which could improve comfort for clinicians by reducing burdensome manipulations. In addition, patients without a specialist in their vicinity will be able to be treated via cooperation between a nearby general practitioner and a distant prosthodontist. The aim of this clinical report is to investigate the possibility of using digitally fabricated maxillofacial prostheses that can be designed in one location, and manufactured in another in clinical situations.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.356-363
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• 2019

A patient who went through maxillectomy can have soft palate defects including oronasal fistulas and suffer from dysphagia and dysarthria due to velopharyngeal insufficiency. This defect causes the food to enter nasal cavity and creates hypernasal sound which debilitates a quality of life. An obturator can rehabilitate the substantial oral tissue defects. The maxillary obturator separates the nasopharynx from the oropharynx during speech and deglutition by closing of the defect. For edentulous obturator patient, it is difficult to obtain proper retention due to reduced peripheral sealing. Therefore, the contours of the defects must be used to maximize the retention, stability, and support. Hollow type obturator can improve physiologic function by reducing weight than the traditional obturator. This case report describes a patient with hemi-maxillectomy who recovers mastication, speech, deglutition, and appearance with a maxillary obturator using physiological border molding of the velopharyngeal area and double-processing method.

• 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.25 no.4
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• pp.329-336
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• 2009

In the case of congenital malformation, acquired trauma, or maxillectomy by neoplasm, the defect in maxilla is combined with nasal cavity, maxillary sinus and oral cavity. This results in abnormal function in pronunciation, mastication, and swallowing. In this situation, the purposes of prosthodontics are also applied. The purposes of obturator for acquired maxillary deficiency patients are restoring pronunciation, mastication, and swallowing, and make patients comfortable and esthetic satisfaction. Reducing weight of the obturator makes edentulous ridge heathy and functional. It also improves patients' comfort. Hollow obturator also reduces unnecessary stress because improves physiologic function, as it weights less than 6.55-33.06% compare to usual one. This case presents the double-processing method for maxillary obturator in the patient treated hemi-maxillectomy due to malignancy neoplasm. We report this case because the patient acquired functional and esthetic satisfaction from double-processing obturator.

• 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.