title: A comparative study on four screw-plate locking systems in sheep: a clinical and radiological study.
abstract: Four mandibular screw-plate locking systems were studied in sheep. Three to four centimetres angular continuity resections of the mandible were performed and the defects bridged with pre-bent angular reconstruction plates fixed with four screws in the body part and three in the ramus. Each type was used four times. Clinical and radiological examinations were carried out 1 and 2 months later. All sheep were able to eat and ruminate normally throughout the postoperative period. Radiology revealed that 6/16 plates and 5/112 screws fractured during the follow-up period. In one type, no fracture occurred. Screw fracture was confined to just one reconstruction system. Six of 16 mandibles showed slight to moderate bone resorption under the plate. The results point to the internal shortcomings of the systems tested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. christian.lindqvist@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Söderholm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Subasinghe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ylijoki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skutnabb
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hallikainen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001860:Bone Plates / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000145:classification; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000209:etiology; D001863:Bone Screws / Q000145:classification; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D008336:Mandibular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000295:instrumentation; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D012756:Sheep; D014945:Wound Healing