Management of mandibular fractures in unreliable patient populations

There is a high incidence of complications following treatment of fractures of the dentulous mandible at our institution, which has led us to scrutinize the criteria for maintaining teeth in the line of fracture and to evaluate other factors that may compromise healing of the fractured mandible, especially in an unreliable patient population. We have reviewed the opinions of various authors and agree that management decisions must be individualized. We recommend prompt and stable immobilization, adequate observation, use of a "tickle file" to keep track of missed appointments, and long-acting intramuscular prophylactic antibiotic coverage, all of which will help minimize morbidity associated with teeth in the line of mandibular fractures, especially in high-risk patients. We also recommend extraction of fully or partially erupted third molars in the line of fracture as well as deeply carious teeth, severely mobile teeth, or teeth with half or more of their root surface exposed to the fracture line. Finally, we recommend that intraoral rather than extraoral open reduction be considered when teeth are to be extracted in order to avoid contamination with the extraoral environment, to enhance surgical access, and to lower postsurgical morbidity.