Microstomia-a treatment challenge to a prosthodontist

The branch of Prosthodontics is not only a science but also an art of handling patients who present with limitations in continuing with normal procedures. An abnormally small mouth opening is called as microstomia. The common reasons for this condition include scleroderma, orofacial malignancies, surgery, burns and TMJ ankylosis. Impressions can be made for patients with restricted mouth opening with a sectional impression tray that can be assembled and disassembled in the mouth and reassembled outside the mouth. This article describes a sectional tray system for making preliminary and secondary impressions. Also an innovative technique of fabricating a sectional complete denture for a microstomic patient has been described.