Total mandibular reconstruction with cancellous cellular bone graft, allogeneic bone crib, and endosseous implants

It is not often that the oral and maxillofacial surgeon is faced with the challenge of restoring a defect that involves the entire mandible. The case presented in this article illustrates the management of such a case. Trauma, infection, neoplasm, and congenital malformations can lead to a discontinuous, deficient, or even absent mandible. In planning the reconstruction of a discontinuity of the mandible, the surgeon may need to manage one or more problems, including loss of adequate denture-bearing bone, loss of speech articulation, loss of control of the tongue and masticatory function, xerostomia as a result of the loss of sublingual and submandibular glands, loss of an intact deglutition mechanism, and a loss of facial form.