Abstract

Treatment of many oral and maxillofacial lesions necessitates intraosseous access that is obtainable only at the expense of removing the maxillary or mandibular cortical, alveolar, or basal bone. Bone removal in the oral and maxillofacial region, especially in large, expansile, maxillofacial lesions, may lead to clot breakdown, facial deformity, inadequate bone formation, and delayed or insufficient healing of the defect, necessitating future reconstructive procedures with grafts 1, 3 In edentulous patients, osseous surgery may lead to loss of alveolar bone height or width, secondary surgery then being required to treat the resultant postoperative sequelae. The composite osteoplastic flap, consisting of hard and soft tissues, is sometimes feasible with the intention of preserving the overlying bone thus, obviating the aforementioned sequelae. In this article, the applications of this flap in selected oral and maxillofacial procedures are evaluated and the advantages and clinical results are described. © 2014 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.