Use of bone plates and screws to manage chronic mandibular dislocation

Abstract

Different treatment modalities are described in literature to treat mandibular recurrent dislocation, including intracapsular esclerosant injections, articular eminence reduction, soft tissues suture to limit condilar movement, and grafts or implants to create mechanical interference, like zygomatic arch down fracture or articular eminence increase by bone plates. In this paper, a patient with mandibular recurrent dislocation episodes were eliminated after bilateral fixation of bone plates to the lateral sur-face of the zygomatic arch to restrict mandibular movements. One arm of the plate was extended me-dially just below the articular eminence and fixed at lateral zygomatic arch portion by two screws. The surgical technique is described and 24 months follow-up period is demonstrate with excellent recovery and functional activities. The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) function was unimpeded and no recu-rrence of condilar dislocation was observed. We concluded that this technique is safe and efficient to hinder dislocations of mandible, preserve the TMJ initial characteristics, and prevent abnormal condi-lar movements over the eminence.