The mandible fracture: a treatment protocol.

Treatment of the mandible fracture is basic to the treatment of maxillofacial trauma. Although there is universal agreement as to treatment goals and therapeutic principles, a plethora of currently accepted treatment modalities indicates a lack of consensus. This article reviews 435 mandible fractures in 268 patients treated by the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service of Kings County Hospital/State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn during a 3-year period from July 1, 1992 to June 30, 1995. Fifteen cases required reoperation or readmission for a complication rate of 3.4%. There was satisfactory bone healing in 99% of the cases. Based on these results, a mandible fracture protocol is proposed.