Silicon in temporomandibular joint ankylosis surgery.

Temporomandibular joint ankylosis frequently occurs succeeding untreated or not adequately treated mandible fractures. Treatment of this condition with combined condylectomy and silicon sheet/block application was investigated in the literature. Thirty-eight patients with temporomandibular joint ankylosis were included in this study, and postoperative results were presented. Mean preoperative and postoperative sixth-month interincisor opening values were 5.8 and 28.8 mm, respectively. In two patients (5.2%), another operation to remove silicon material was needed because of infection and exposure of the silicon. One patient (2.6%) was operated on again for limited mouth opening. It was concluded that interpositional arthroplasty with silicon was proved to be a low-cost, easy approach with satisfactory long-term results.