Use of cortical bone screws in maxillofacial surgery - a prospective study.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to evaluate the various applications of cortical bone screws in oral and maxillofacial surgery. MATERIALS & METHODS The study was conducted in a teaching hospital located in, Bangalore, India, on 20 patients. These patients were categorized into three groups depending on the applications of these screws like, for achieving intermaxillary fixation in Group-1, for treatment of simple, undisplaced fractures by "Tension wire" method in Group-2, and further application of these screws were evaluated in Group-3. Different parameters were used to evaluate the efficacy of these screws. RESULTS In Group-1(n=12) there was satisfactory occlusion in all the patients with minimal incidence of complications. In Group-2 (n=4) post-operative reduction and fixation was satisfactory and in Group-3 (n=4) the function of these screws was satisfactory when it was used for vestibuloplasty and also as a suspension wiring in treatment of comminuted fracture of zygoma with minimal incidence of complications. CONCLUSION Use of cortical bone screws is a valid alternative for achieving intermaxillary fixation, reduction and fixation of simple, undisplaced or minimally displaced fractures through Tension wire method owing to its simplicity, economy and ease of use, and as a fixation method for apically positioned flap in vestibuloplasty procedure. How to cite the article: Satish M, Rahman NM, Reddy VS, Yuvaraj A, Muliyar S, Razak PA. Use of Cortical Bone Screws in Maxillofacial Surgery - A Prospective Study. J Int Oral Health 2014;6(2):62-7.