Utilizing orthodontic appliances to retain and disguise a pediatric maxillary obturator throughout growth.

Unique challenges are encountered when providing an obturator for an adolescent patient. Challenges include the need to modify the obturator throughout growth, engaging the mixed dentition or partially erupted teeth with minimal undercuts, the psychosocial challenges of an actively maturing patient, and the possible need for coincidental orthodontic therapy. This clinical report describes the ongoing rehabilitation of a patient who presented at the age of 10 with a biopsy-confirmed palatal mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Incorporating orthodontic brackets for retention of innovative adjustable obturator clasps allowed for the favorable function of the obturator prosthesis and the ability to alter the prosthesis over time.

Fabrication of custom oral positioning devices in head and neck proton radiotherapy.

With complex head and neck diseases that closely approximate crucial organs or have advanced spread and cannot be surgically resected, intensity modulated proton beam radiotherapy is favored due to its superior dose targeting through magnetic manipulation of the proton energy. A radiation mask and an oral positioning device immobilize craniofacial, cervical, and oral structures for accurate and reliable radiation delivery. Widely available prefabricated thermoplastic oral positioning devices are manufactured in standardized forms and materials that unpredictably affect the proton beams' pathways and range. This technique article showcases a workflow that combines analog and digital dental techniques to produce a customized 3D-printed oral positioning device within 2 appointments.