Maxillofaciqal rehabilitation of a large cleft palate using fixed-removable prosthesis

Maxillofacial defects either congenital or acquired, lead to a marked loss of both the functional efficiency and aesthetic profile of the affected individuals. Plastic surgery and tissue reconstruction is the treatment of choice. However, in certain clinical scenarios, removable and/or fixed obturator prosthesis can be the only option available. The management of these critical cases should be planned after a detailed investigation and diagnosis, evaluation of the subject's expectations and demands, socioeconomic status, available technical facilities and utilization of a multi-disciplinary team approach. This report discusses the intra oral rehabilitation of a complete, unilateral cleft palate along with dento-alveolar rehabilitation. A fixed-removable prosthesis was provided to gain functional as well as aesthetic results without extensive surgical correction

Oral stereognostic ability in hypodontia patients

Hypodontia is congenital absence of one or more, but not all, of the normal complement of teeth. It is one of the most frequent alterations of human dentition. Hypodontia either alone or association with craniofacial developmental disorders can pose speech and masticatory dysfunctions along with aesthetic and functional problems. Oral Stereognostic ability can be used to diagnose and predict the prognosis of different treatment modalities in hypodontia patients. To compare oral Stereognostic ability in hypodontia patients with those having normal dentition. Case Control study, conducted in the Department of Prosthodontics, de'Montmorency College of Dentistry/ Punjab Dental Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Forty hypodontia subjects were selected. Forty dental students of third and final year with normal dentition were selected as controls. Oral Stereognostic ability scores were calculated using specific test samples for both groups. This study showed that oral Stereognostic ability scores were reduced in hypodontia subjects with a significant p value<0.001. It confirms that hypodontia subjects had some difficulty in perceiving the intra oral objects. Oral Stereognostic ability was impaired in hypodontia subjects; correction at early age might improve the case

Oral health related quality of life in complete dentures

Oral health related quality of life [OHRQoL] has been considered as an outcome measure to assess consequences of edentulism and available treatment options. The oral health impact profile [OHIP] is one of the most technically sophisticated instruments designed to measure OHRQoL. Objective of the study was to assess the OHRQoL before and after the provision of complete denture. It was a case series study done at the Department of Prosthodontics, de, Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore from 15-07-2006 to 14-07-2007. One hundred edentulous subjects were studied. All subjects completed the OHIP-14 questionnaire before and after provision of complete dentures. The responses were compared on Likert scale. In majority of subjects, pre treatment responses in OHIP-14 questionnaire were at the higher end, indicating the negative impacts on the OHRQoL. The post provision responses showed a significant improvement. The study suggested that provision of complete dentures in subjects having positive attitude towards the removable prostheses had positive impacts on OHRQoL