J Korean Acad Prosthodont.  2019 Oct;57(4):356-363. 10.4047/jkap.2019.57.4.356.

Prosthetic rehabilitation by double-processing technique for edentulous patient with soft palate defect after maxillectomy: A case report

• Park JY
• Wang YK
• Song KY
• Park JM
• Lee JJ

• KMID: 2461142
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4047/jkap.2019.57.4.356

Abstract

A patient who went through maxillectomy can have soft palate defects including oronasal fistulas and suffer from dysphagia and dysarthria due to velopharyngeal insufficiency. This defect causes the food to enter nasal cavity and creates hypernasal sound which debilitates a quality of life. An obturator can rehabilitate the substantial oral tissue defects. The maxillary obturator separates the nasopharynx from the oropharynx during speech and deglutition by closing of the defect. For edentulous obturator patient, it is difficult to obtain proper retention due to reduced peripheral sealing. Therefore, the contours of the defects must be used to maximize the retention, stability, and support. Hollow type obturator can improve physiologic function by reducing weight than the traditional obturator. This case report describes a patient with hemi-maxillectomy who recovers mastication, speech, deglutition, and appearance with a maxillary obturator using physiological border molding of the velopharyngeal area and double-processing method.

Keyword

Maxillofacial prosthesis; Soft palate abnormalities; Palatal obturator; Double-processing technique

MeSH Terms

Deglutition
Deglutition Disorders
Dysarthria
Fistula
Fungi
Humans
Mastication
Maxillofacial Prosthesis
Methods
Nasal Cavity
Nasopharynx
Oropharynx
Palatal Obturators
Palate, Soft*
Quality of Life
Rehabilitation*
Velopharyngeal Insufficiency