A tongue stent for prevention of oral trauma in the comatose patient.

This paper presents the need for and offers a solution to the problem of factitial tongue and other intra-oral injuries in comatose and decerebrate patients. The neurophysiology of jaw movement in the comatose patient is the basis for the design of an intraoral prosthesis which in two patients has prevented discoordinate mandibular chewing movements and facilitated healing of preexisting factitial lesions. The authors delineate in detail the fabrication, insertion, and maintenance of this protective prosthesis and emphasize the need for joint effort between the intensive care, neurosurgical, and oral surgical teams.