Dental Approach of Jaw Fracture Treatment

Introduction
As facial fractures mostly result from severe trauma, emergency care and shock treatment are priorities to stabilize the patient and to ensure that a patent airway is maintained. Cranio-facial lesions have been diagnosed in more than 40% of these trauma patients in cats, and more than 25% in dogs.

Most of mandibular fractures are located in the mandibular body, and among them 70% are located in the premolar and molar dentate area. About 75% of mandibular fractures are open ones, especially in puppies, and are common in small breed and toy breed dogs. About 75% of mandibular fractures had one dental root located into the fracture line, with the first molar tooth the most frequently involved one. Fractures of the mandibular body can also occurred as a consequence of severe infectious or tumoral lesions with pathologic spontaneous fractures.

Among the different techniques available to the surgeon to treat jaw fractures, minimally invasive techniques without osteosynthesis are of major interest. But as any other surgical techniques, they still require training, and deep knowledge of root anatomy, jaw biomechanics and dental biomaterials science.

The most important aspect of any jaw fracture repair is to restore the correct initial occlusion to ensure that the patient can quickly return to normal spontaneous eating function. There should be no tooth-on-soft-tissue contact and the animal should be able to open and close its jaws without any interference.  [...]