[War injuries of the mandible and sequelae 50 years later]

About 50 years after the end of World War II 84 former soldiers of the German army were examined for aftereffects of their war injuries. Among the data recorded for analysis were the age at which the injury was incurred, the examination intervals, the region affected by the injury and the cause of the injury, but also the different levels of aftereffects of injuries. A total of 53 applicants had suffered mandibular injuries. Considering the wide scattering range, it can be concluded that values of about 20 percent represent a mean degree of incapacitation, primarily due to a combination of loss of teeth and parts of the alveolar process and the effects on the prosthetic support. Casuistic examples illustrate special histories or developments including sarcomagenesis in the region originally affected by the injury.