Bone plate fixation of mandibular fractures.

Bone plate fixation has been applied in 11 out of 1400 patients with fractures of the jaws treated between 1970 and 1978. Most of the case were edentulous patients with dislocated fractures or nonunion fractures due to infection or inadequate immobilization of the fragments in the mandible. A relatively high incidence of complications was noted, depending mostly on the nature of the fracture and in some cases on an extensively resorbed mandible. Bone plate fixation doses have its field of application, although the need for its application in routine treatment of uncomplicated mandibular fractures in dentulous patients is rather limited.