Individually Prefabricated Prosthesis for Maxilla Reconstuction

The reconstruction of maxillofacial bone defects by the intraoperative modeling of implants may reduce the predictability of the esthetic result, leading to more invasive surgery and increased surgical time. To improve the maxillofacial surgery outcome, modern manufacturing methods such as rapid prototyping (RP) technology and methods based on reverse engineeing (RE) and medical imaging data are applicable to the manufacture of custom-made maxillary prostheses. After acquisition of data, an individual computer-based 3D model of the bony defect is gernerated. These data are tranferrred into RE software to create the prosthesis using a computer-aided design (CAD) model, which is directed into the RP machine for the production of the physical model. The precise fit of the prosthesis is evaulated using the prosthesis and skull model. The prosthesis is then directly used in investment casting such as "Quick Cast" pattern to produce the titanium model. In the clincical reports presented here, reconstructions of two patients with large maxillary bone defects during the operations, and surgery time was reduced. These cases show that the prefabrication of a prosthesis using modern manufacturing technology is an effective method for maxillofacial defect reconstruction.