[Procedures and results with preoperative individual AO reconstruction plates]

As a rule continuous bony defects of the mandible after tumour resection are temporarily bridged with the AO reconstruction plate. To precontour the plate, CT-scans of the mandible at a scale of 1:1 6 mm above and parallel to the inferior margin are needed. Corresponding layers further cranial show the anatomy of the chin. Using a lateral cephalograph, the mandibular angle and the length of the plate in the ascending ramus are measured. Using the CT-scans, the lateral cephalograph, a prebent template and a corresponding model of the mandible, the plate is bent into shape. Of the nineteen preshaped reconstruction plates implanted, eleven did not need any intraoperative adjustment. The other eight plates needed only slight modifications of contour. Preoperative bending of the reconstruction plate reduces the time taken for the operation, protects the material and the plate is precisely shaped.