Rehabilitation of a Unilateral Cleft Palate with Endosseous Implants in an Edentulous Elderly Patient.

The objective was to describe the use of a maxillary obturator supported by dental implants and ball abutments in an adult edentulous unilateral cleft patient. Adult edentulous cleft patients who have had no corrective surgeries or failed attempts at cleft repair in childhood suffer from oronasal communication resulting in hypernasal speech, dysphagia, and compromised masticatory ability. Tissue-supported obturator prostheses in such patients provide for compromised function due to instability and lack of retention. The treatment using fibromucosal-supported obturators is well established in the literature; few articles have also described osseointegrated implants supporting the prosthesis in adult cleft patients supported by bar attachments and magnets; however, reports of implant-supported maxillary obturators retained by ball/stud attachments are scarce. The implants provided retention and stability to the prosthesis, simplifying the laboratory procedure using ball abutments, improving swallowing, speech, and the patient's general quality of life. This article reports the rehabilitation of an adult cleft palate patient with a totally edentulous maxilla using an implant-retained prosthesis.

Effect of Long-term Immersion in Water and Artificial Saliva on the Flexural Strength of Two Heat Cure Denture Base Resins.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to compare and evaluate the flexural strength of heat-polymerized Lucitone 199 and SR Ivocap denture base resin materials which uses polymerization techniques of compression molding and injection molding respectively and effect of artificial saliva and distilled water on long-term. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety specimens each from both the materials measuring 65 × 10 × 3 mm were prepared. After the polymerization, flexural strength was calculated after 24 hours (control group) without immersing in the liquid medium. The test group specimens immersed in saliva and distilled water at 37°C was calculated for the flexural strength at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months and 4 months. The flexural strength was measured using a universal testing machine. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was used to analyze the data, pairwise comparisons were done using Bonferroni post hoc test with a probability of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The evaluation showed that, despite the duration of immersion and type of acrylic resin, high flexural strength was seen with specimens immersed in saliva than specimens under distilled water. The higher flexural strength was seen in SR Ivocap compared to that of Lucitone199 with the p value less than 0.05 which showed significant statistically. CONCLUSION: From the results, we can conclude that the higher flexural strength was shown in specimens of SR Ivocap fabricated through injection molding technique compared to specimens of Lucitone 199 fabricated through compression molding technique after immersion in artificial saliva and distilled water for long term. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The homogeneous copolymer beads, the difference in the water sorption and powder to liquid ratios also affect the mechanical properties of the resins other than the type of resin used in the dentures base.