Comparative evaluation of a patient-specific customised plate designs and screws for partial mandibular reconstruction.

Mandibles with odontogenic tumors are often partially reconstructed with a metallic bone graft analogue with dental roots, crowns, along with a customized plate fixed with monocortical or bicortical screws, following resection of the tumor. In this study, two different designs of patient specific customized Ti reconstruction plates, solid and plate with holes, were considered. Fixation through both bicortical and monocortical screw types were investigated. FE models of the reconstructed mandibles were developed to analyse the influence of the plate-screw type combination on the load transfer across the mandibles under a mastication cycle. The effective homogenized orthotropic material properties of the lattice structures with 0.6 mm fibre diameter with 0.5 mm inter-fibre space were assigned to material properties for the bone graft analogue. The study shows that the combination of plate and screw types influences the state of stresses in the reconstructed mandible. Based on the results of this patient specific study, following resection of the tumor, either solid Ti plate with bicortical screws or Ti plate with holes along with monocortical screws may be used for partial mandibulectomy. It should also be noted that stresses in none of the plates or screws exceeded the yield limit for Ti under the mastication cycle indicating that the components are safe for mandibular reconstruction. However, the choice of this combination of reconstruction plates and screws is dependant on the condition and severity of the tumor in the diseased mandible.