Digital Applications of Maxillofacial Reconstruction– A systematic review

Objectives: Many patients with maxillofacial defects require maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation due to cancer, trauma, or congenital diseases. Adequate surgical and prosthetic treatment planning is required to achieve satisfactory morphological and functional results. Before computer-aided design/computer-assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) technology was introduced, conventional methods have been used to reconstruct the facial form, which involved making impressions, obtaining models and fabricating the prosthesis all of which is time consuming and requires multiple visits. A rapid progress has been made with advances in digital technology, such as milling systems, rapid prototyping, three-dimensional (3D) scanning, and 3D printing, which has improved the patients’ expectations, the functional and esthetic treatment outcomes. Materials and methods: An electronic search was conducted in the Cochrane, PubMed (MEDLINE), and ScienceDirect databases between July 2000 and October 2020. A manual search was also performed to cover all digital aspects of the maxillofacial prosthesis. The inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trials, prospective or retrospective cohort, and cross-sectional studies performed on humans with at least 1 year of follow-up and published within the last 20 years. Results: The results showed that the used technologies in a digital workflow of auricular, orbital and nasal prosthesis reduce the manufacturing time and allow the manufacture of high-quality prostheses for missing facial parts. The methodology provides a good position for further development issues and is usable for clinical practice. Conclusion: Utilization of digital technologies in the facial prosthesis manufacturing process can be a good contribution for higher patient comfort and production efficiency but also comes with a higher initial investment and greater demands for experience with software tools.

Techniques in clinical examination and treatment planning of maxillofacial prosthesis patients – A systematic review

Maxillofacial prosthesis (MFP) can be defined as the art and science of esthetic and functional reconstruction of the Maxillofacial bones, art because it uses customized and specific rules for each individual, science because of its application on patient’s personality and its relation in medicine. An electronic search was conducted in the Cochrane, PubMed (MEDLINE), and ScienceDirect databases between March 2000 and July 2020. A manual search was also performed to cover all possible aspects of the maxillofacial prosthesis and the related topics that were chosen. Treatment planning with the latest techniques such as using latest imaging technique and 3D planning can guarantee a future with repeatable high-quality maxillofacial prosthetics.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on Dental Training of Students and Residents in USA

The turn of this decade has seen the start of a pandemic originated in Wuhan, China that inundated the world by the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. This may result in dental and training taking a back seat, as critical resources are channeled toward frontline efforts to combat outbreaks. In dental education, patient care and service is an important a mandate within the healthcare system. There must be some contingency plans to minimize the disruption of the education and training. Advance in the physical structure and protocol of the dental practice on live patients will become the new normal in dentistry. This gap in time created by the pandemic is an opportunity to expand the horizon of the dental professional into the scope of the oral physician with a broader focus of the responsibility of the dentists as the scientist, the artist, the engineer and the doctor must be adopted in practice.

Pick a smile: the perception and alteration of Gums, Color of the teeth and Lips

Facial attractiveness plays a key role in social life. Facial attractiveness and smile attractiveness appear strongly linked to one another. The fact is that in social interaction, one’s attention is mainly directed toward the mouth and eyes of the speaker’s face. As the mouth is the focus of communication in the face, the smile plays an important role in facial expression and appearance. Esthetic appearance is extremely subjective and relates to beauty and harmony. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of smile by laymen, orthodontists and Prosthodontists by changing lip size, teeth color and gingival display. This research project was carried out in Saudi Arabia for one year from January to December 2020, following approval by the Institute's Ethics Committee. Materials and Methods: A model was chosen with full permanent dentition, multiple pictures were created and afterwards evaluated by Laymen population, Orthodontists and Prosthodontists. Results: The results of the study reveal that smiles with whiter teeth and thicker lips were judged to be more aesthetic by laypersons compared to orthodontists, and prosthodontists. The minimum amount of gingival display was considered esthetic by the three groups. Perception of Orthodontists and Prosthodontists had no significant difference in gingival display, color of the teeth and thickness of lips.