PROSTHODONTIC REHABILITATION OF MAXILLOFACIAL DEFECTS IN A NIGERIAN TEACHING HOSPITAL: A 9-YEAR REVIEW

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to review patients treated with maxillofacial prostheses in a Nigerian teaching hospital to assess the types of prostheses provided for them. METHODOLOGY: This was a retrospective study of patients treated with maxillofacial prostheses over a period of nine years. The socio-demographic data of the patients, types of defect, causes of defects, location of defect, types of maxillofacial prostheses and the indications for prostheses were obtained from the patients’ case records. Case records with incomplete information were excluded. All data generated were analysed using the IBM SPSS version 20. Fisher’s exact test was used to test for statistical significance RESULTS: Case records of eighty-two patients treated with maxillofacial prostheses were reviewed. Forty-three (52.4%) of the patients were males while 39 (47.6%) were females. The age ranged from 6 to 76 years with the mean age being of 38.76 (SD±18.3) years. The majority, 58 (70.7%) of the patients were of lower social-economic class. Sixty-six (80.5%) patients had prostheses for maxillary defects, while only one (1.2%) patient had prosthesis for nasal defect. Twenty (30.3%) of the 66 patients that had maxillary defects had definitive obturators, while only three (4.5%) had all the three types of obturator. Surgical recession of tumours of the jaw was the major cause (85.4%) and mastication (70.7%) was the major indication for the prescription of obturators. CONCLUSION: The majority of the patients were of the lower social class and maxillary obturator was the major form of maxillofacial prostheses provided for patients in this study. Most of the defects are caused by surgical recession of tumours of the jaw and mastication was the major indication for the prescription of obturators.