Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Edentulous Segmental Mandibulectomy Patient: a Case Report

An understanding of postsurgical anatomy and physiology is an obvious prerequisite to the development of new prosthetic procedures for mandibulectomy patients. Loss of the potential basal seat area, atrophic and fragile oral mucosa, reduction in salivary output, angular pathway of mandibular closure, deviation of the mandible and impairment of the motor and sensory control of the tongue, lips and cheeks makes the fabrication of a prosthesis difficult in these situations. Several prosthetic options include sectional prosthesis, use of palatal ramp, setting double rows of teeth on the unresected side in maxilla and use of functional chew in technique. This article describes the use of two rows of maxillary posterior teeth on the unresected side in a patient who had undergone segmental mandibulectomy. The inner row helped in restoring the function whereas the outer row helped in restoring the cheek support and esthetics.