Jaw in a Day: Getting Closer

Introduction: Dental rehabilitation following ablative procedures of the maxilla or mandible for oncologic control or treatment of benign tumors has been available for many decades. It has been significantly underutilized in our head and neck cancer rehabilitation program due to multiple factors. Cost, insurance coverage, and coordination with maxillofacial prosthodontists have all been hurdles into re-establishing dentition. Recent developments in virtual computerized modeling and planning has allowed the fabrication of patient specific dental prosthesis for immediate use in the operating room. The Jaw in a Day procedure has made it possible for patients to enter the operating room with their dentition, undergo surgical resection and reconstruction, and leave with a dental prothesis in place with a cosmetically favorable outcome. Bundling of the dental prosthesis with the hardware required for each case has significantly reduced the cost, thus making this reconstructive option available to more patients. Additionally, the time to complete rehabilitation (ie., final prothesis) has dramatically decreased.

Methods: Case series describing a new innovative technique to provide immediate dental rehabilitation following ablation.

Results: Our presentation will describe our method of Jaw in a Day with the utilization of a new laboratory pre-printed dental prosthesis that is supported by dental implants and placed into the bony reconstruction at the time of the ablation. The technology is commercially available and significantly less costly than previous techniques and does not require the participation of a maxillofacial prosthodontist in the operating room. We will utilize this case series to demonstrate: work up, planning of reconstruction and implants, placement of a temporary prosthesis intraoperatively, and the final outcome.

Conclusions: The Jaw in a Day procedure allows for immediate dental rehabilitation for patients undergoing ablative procedures in the head and neck region.