Recovery of Masticatory Function with Dental Implants in Patients with Extensive Jaw Defects After Treatment of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases

In this study, we examined the current situation of the dental implant treatments in patients with extensive jaw defects after treatment for various oral and maxillofacial diseases. Additionally, we extracted factors related to the loss of dental implants and assessed the recovery of the masticatory function of the patients. Forty-three patients with extensive jaw defects who underwent dental implant treatments covered by Jap-anese public health insurance at Dokkyo Medical University Hospital were included in this study. The primary diseases of the patients were malignant tumor (n=24), benign tumor (n=12), cleft lip and palate (n=3), trauma (n=2), and osteonecrosis (n=2). One hundred fourteen dental implants were placed in 43 patients, and 9 dental implants were lost during early period of the treatment. The masticatory function in 7 patients with a removable denture on dental implants increased significantly from before to af-ter denture placement (p=0.008). The masticatory function in 3 patients with fixed prosthesis was similar to that in 3 healthy individuals with natural dentition. In uni-variate analysis, loss of dental implants was higher in patients with maxillary dental implants (p=0.025), maxillary cantilever denture retained with implants on existing maxillary bone (p=0.032), and patients who received radiotherapy (p=0.034). In multi-variate analysis, p value of these 3 risk factors did not reach significant level. Despite the complicated surgical conditions and limited option of prosthesis in the patients with extensive jaw defects, good outcomes were achieved and the dental implant treatments improved their masticatory function.