Maxillofacial prosthetics: obturators, facial prostheses basics
Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge · Dental (BDS)
Study notes
After partial palate removal, a patient cannot swallow without food entering the nose. What does an obturator do? The obturator is a denture-like plate with an extension that plugs the palatal opening, separating mouth from nasal cavity. This restores the seal needed for swallowing and for speech sounds that need oral pressure (p, b). Students learn it as separation-restoration: the prosthesis doesn't heal tissue, it re-establishes the boundary.
Related topics
- Complete dentures: diagnosis, treatment planning, impressions
- Complete dentures: jaw relations — vertical and centric
- Complete dentures: occlusion — balanced, lingualized; teeth arrangement
- Complete dentures: try-in, processing, insertion, post-insertion care
- Removable partial dentures: classification — Kennedy, Applegate
- Removable partial dentures: components — clasps, rests, connectors