Use of Dental Impression Silicone to Fabricate Simple Surgical Guides in Mandibular Reconstruction∗.

Abstract

Several recent reports have described the development and use of three-dimensional (3D) printed surgical osteotomy guides. However, these methods: are usually costly. Here, we introduce a novel method of manufacturing surgical guides built from inexpensive, easy-to-use, and sterilizable dental impression silicone. Mandibular and fibular models were prepared using a 3D printer for 10 patients undergoing free fibula flap transfer after mandibular resection. During preoperative simulation surgery, Protesil labor, a dental silicone, was molded to the same size as the fibular models to act as surgical guides. The authors compared pre- and post-operative bone angles and bone lengths for all cases using simulation surgery models and postoperative 3D computed tomography. Mean bone angle difference was 2.6° and mean bone length difference was 1.7 mm. Cost of the dental silicone was approximately US$5/patient. In our series this method allowed the surgeon to perform an accurate osteotomy, inexpensively and time-efficiently.