Modified technique to fabricate a hollow light-weight facial prosthesis for lateral midfacial defect: a clinical report

Large oro-facial defects result from cancer treatment consequences in serious functional as well as cosmetic deformities. Acceptable cosmetic results usually can be obtained with a facial prosthesis. However, retention of a large facial prosthesis can be challenging because of its size and weight. This article describes prosthetic rehabilitation of a 57-year-old man having a right lateral mid-facial defect with intraoral-extraoral combination prosthesis. A modified technique to fabricate a hollow substructure in heat-polymerizing polymethyl-methacrylate to support silicone facial prosthesis was illustrated. The resultant facial prosthesis was structurally durable and light in weight facilitating the retention with magnets satisfactorily. This technique is advantageous as there is no need to fabricate the whole prosthesis again in case of damage of the silicone layer because the outer silicone layer can be removed and re-packed on the substructure if the gypsum-mold is preserved.