• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.579-585
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• 2006

Introduction: The fibular free flap is now considered as the first choice for long mandibular discontinuity defect. In spite of its good bone quality for implant installation, its diameter is too narrow to rehabilitate the masticatory function with implant installation. In this report, distraction osteogenesis was used for the augmentation of bone to install the dental implant in the mandible which was reconstructed with a vascularized fibular free flap. Patients and Methods: Three patients undertook the vertical augmentation of grafted fibular bone and dental implants were installed. On the day 8 post-surgery, the activation of the distractor was started at the rate of 1 mm twice a day. The total amount of distraction was 15 mm in two patients and 12.5 mm in one patient. Twelve implants were installed in three patients. Dental implants were simultaneously installed during removal of the distraction device in two patients. In one patient, the implant installation was delayed after device had been removed. All three patients showed the symptoms of mild to severe postoperative infection during the activation and consolidation. However, the distracted site showed undisturbed bone regeneration. Conclusion: The distraction osteogenesis showed the reliable results for the vertical augmentation of fibular bone which was used for the mandibular reconstruction. However, the great tendency of postoperative infection must be considered and clinically controlled.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.40
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• pp.35.1-35.7
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• 2018

Background: After the resection at the mandibular site involving oral cancer, free vascularized fibular graft, a type of vascularized autograft, is often used for the mandibular reconstruction. Titanium mesh (T-mesh) and particulate cancellous bone and marrow (PCBM), however, a type of non-vascularized autograft, can also be used for the reconstruction. With the T-mesh applied even in the chin and angle areas, an aesthetic contour with adequate strength and stable fixation can be achieved, and the pores of the mesh will allow the rapid revascularization of the bone graft site. Especially, this technique does not require microvascular training; as such, the surgery time can be shortened. This advantage allows older patients to undergo the reconstructive surgery. Case presentation: Reported in this article are two cases of mandibular reconstruction using the ready-made type and custom-made type T-mesh, respectively, after mandibular resection. We had operated double blind peer-review process. A 79-year-old female patient visited the authors' clinic with gingival swelling and pain on the left mandibular region. After wide excision and segmental mandibulectomy, a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap was used to cover the intraoral defect. Fourteen months postoperatively, reconstruction using a ready-made type T-mesh (Striker-Leibinger, Freibrug, Germany) and iliac PCBM was done to repair the mandible left body defect. Another 62-year-old female patient visited the authors' clinic with pain on the right mandibular region. After wide excision and segmental mandibulectomy on the mandibular squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), reconstruction was done with a reconstruction plate and a right fibula free flap. Sixteen months postoperatively, reconstruction using a custom-made type T-mesh and iliac PCBM was done to repair the mandibular defect after the failure of the fibula free flap. The CAD-CAM T-mesh was made prior to the operation. Conclusions: In both cases, sufficient new-bone formation was observed in terms of volume and strength. In the CAD-CAM custom-made type T-mesh case, especially, it was much easier to fix screws onto the adjacent mandible, and after the removal of the mesh, the appearance of both patients improved, and the neo-mandibular body showed adequate bony volume for implant or prosthetic restoration.