ATTACHMENTS USED FOR IMPLANT-SUPPORTED FACIAL PROSTHESES - A SURVEY OF UNITED-STATES, CANADIAN, AND SWEDISH CENTERS

A survey was conducted of one Swedish, three Canadian, and 24 United S tates centers that provide implant-supported facial prosthetic treatme nt. All centers responded to the survey. A total of 357 patients began treatment. Of those, 338 completed treatment: 165 in Sweden, 131 in t he United States, and 42 in Canada, The incidence of facial sites trea ted with implant-supported prostheses indicated that the auricular (72 %) region was the most common site, followed by the orbital (20%), nas al (6%), and combination (2%). Clips were the predominant mechanism us ed to retain auricular prostheses. Orbital prostheses were fabricated with a wider variety and combination of attachments. Nasal and combina tion prostheses were too few to elicit any specific trends of attachme nt use. A variety of manufacturers' attachments were used for clip, ma gnet, and miscellaneous attachments to retain implant-supported facial prostheses, Results of this survey indicate a need for further invest igation regarding the most efficacious attachment method to serve pati ents treated with implant-supported facial prostheses.