A Comparative Study of 3-Dimensional Titanium Versus 2-Dimensional Titanium Miniplates for Open Reduction and Fixation of Mandibular Parasymphysis Fracture

• Published in: Journal of maxillofacial and oral surgery Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 93 - 98
• Main Authors: Mittal, Yogesh, Varghese, K. George, Mohan, S., Jayakumar, N., Chhag, Somil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-03-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Comparative Study; Dentistry; Infections; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Otorhinolaryngology; Pain; Patients; Plastic Surgery; Surgeons; Titanium; Open reduction and internal fixation; Three dimensional titanium miniplate (3D); Two dimensional titanium miniplate (2D); Mandibular parasymphysis fracture
• ISSN: 0972-8279; 0974-942X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12663-015-0780-7

Introduction
Three dimensional titanium plating system was developed by Farmand in 1995 to meet the requirements of semi rigid fixation with lesser complication. The purpose of this in vivo prospective study was to evaluate and compare the clinical effectiveness of three dimensional and two dimensional Titanium miniplates for open reduction and fixation of mandibular parasymphysis fracture.
Materials and Methods
Thirty patients with non-comminuted mandibular parasymphysis fractures were divided randomly into two equal groups and were treated with 2 mm 3D and 2D miniplate system respectively. All patients were systematically monitored at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th week, 3rd and 6th month postoperatively. The outcome parameters recorded were severity of pain, infection, mobility, occlusion derangement, paresthesia and implant failure. The data so collected was analyzed using independent
t
test and Chi square test (α = .05).
Results
The results showed that one patient in each group had post-operative infection, occlusion derangement and mobility (
p
 > .05). In Group A, one patient had paresthesia while in Group B, two patients had paresthesia (
p
 > .05). None of the patients in both the groups had implant failure. There was no statistically significant difference between 3D and 2D miniplate system in all the recorded parameters at all the follow-ups (
p
 > .05).
Conclusion
3D miniplates were found to be better than 2D miniplates in terms of cost, ease of surgery and operative time. However, 3D miniplates were unfavorable for cases where fracture line was oblique and in close proximity to mental foramen, where they were difficult to adapt and more chances for tooth-root damage and inadvertent injury to the mental nerve due to traction.