Associate Professor, Dentistry and Oral Surgery Cornell University Ithaca, New York
Surgical treatment of oral tumors usually requires wide-margin excision that involves removal of a portion of the mandible (i.e., mandibulectomy) or maxilla (i.e., maxillectomy), depending on tumor location. Mandibulectomies often result in some degree of mandibular instability, drift of the opposing mandible, and traumatic malocclusion, which may require intervention. Maxillectomies often invade the nasal cavity, and dehiscence can result in oronasal fistula formation. This lecture discusses the implications of postsurgical malocclusion and oronasal fistula formation, as well as prevention and treatment strategies.
