3-D locking titanium miniplates in management of mandibular fracture: A prospective clinical study

Purpose: The aim of this follow up clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 2mm, 3-dimentional locking titanium miniplates. Patients and Method: A prospective randomized clinical trial was carried out on 10 patients with mandibular fractures. The patients were evaluated for the operating time, clinical assessment of mobility after fixation, occlusion, adequacy of reduction on postoperative radiograph and any surgical complications. The statistical analysis was carried out in SPSS software. Results: In 10 patients, 9(90%) were males and 1(10%) were females with a mean age of 28.75 years. Road traffic accident (RTA) was the etiological factor in 7(70%), interpersonal violence in 2 (20%) and fall in 1(10%) patient. The average intra-operative time was 40.10 min locking plates. This was found to be statistically significant when compared to the intra-operative time of non-locking plates in the literature. Bite force was measured in kilogram/cm2 using indigenously designed bite force measurement device. All the measurements were compared to the control group who did not sustain mandible fracture. At third month it was found that there was no significant difference in the bite between locking plates and control group. On examination satisfactory postoperative functional occlusion was found to be 100% in locking plates. Conclusions: The results obtained suggest that 3-D locking plate/screw system fulfill the treatment goals of adequate reduction, fixation and stabilization of fracture of mandible. 3-D locking plating system adequately reduces the fracture without much need for adaptation and hence reduces the intra-operative time.