Use of the buccal fat pad as a pedicle graft.

A technique was developed to use the pedicle buccal fat pad as method for closing an oro-antral communication. The buccal fat pad is situated in the posterior part of the maxilla and bounded by the pterygopalatine fossa, buccal muscle, and masseter muscle. It is supplied by blood from small branches of the maxillary artery, the superficial temporal artery, and the facial artery. Generally, the buccal fat pad can be easily reached by a horizontal incision over the periosteum near the maxillary third molar. As much as 60 x 50mm2 can be obtained. For reconstructive surgery, the buccal fat pad is suitable for closing the sinus near the hard and soft palate and naso-oral fistulae. In our case, graft tissues after surgery healed satisfactorily, began to epithelialize at two weeks after operation, and appeared with normal mucous-like changes at about one month. Thus, the pedicle buccal fat pad is a safe, simple, convenient, and effective grafting method, if it is applied to appropriate cases.