Page 128 - Open versus closed Mandibular condyle fractures

Patients who were younger than 18 years of age, or patients unable to understand and read Dutch, or patients that experienced bilateral condylar fractures, or patients that reported limited mouth opening (< 35 mm) before the condylar fracture, or patients with an intellectual disability, or patients with a history of psychiatric disorder(s) were excluded. Patients with a follow-up of at least 1 year were invited by letter for an additional appointment. If patients did not respond within 2 months after the letter was sent, they were contacted by telephone. The Ethics Committee of the AMC approved the study protocol. All patients who participated received a patient identification number and signed an informed consent form.
Gender, age (in years), and education level (primary up to university) were reported. The cause of trauma, fracture type (intra- or extra-articular), coexistence of other facial fractures, the use of physiotherapy, and length of follow-up (in months) were noted. The included and the excluded patients were compared regarding age, gender, fracture level related to the mandibular joint capsule (intracapsular and extracapsular), site of the fracture, other fractures, and open and closed treatment. This calculation was done, to make sure the included patients were a representation of the total population.
Measurements
Mixing Ability Test
The Mixing Ability Test (MAT) and method of analysis have been described previously.2,3 Briefly, the MAT measures how well a patient can mix a wax tablet by chewing on it for 15 strokes. The tablet consists of two, 3-mm layers of red and blue wax, and has a diameter of 20 mm. The wax (Plasticine modelling wax, non-toxic DIN EN-71, art. nos. crimson 52801 and blue 52809, Stockmar, Kalten Kirchen, Germany) is a soft material that forms a compact bolus during chewing. The chewed wax is flattened to a thickness of 2.0 mm using a hydraulic hand press and photographed from both sides using a high-quality scanner (Epson V750, Long Beach, CA, USA).
The images of the wax are analysed and processed using Photoshop CS3 (Adobe, San Jose, CA, USA). The spread of the color intensities in the combined image of both sides is used as a measure of mixing, which is termed the Mixing Ability Index (MAI). A lower MAI score represents a better mixed tablet, and hence, better masticatory performance.
Mixing ability test
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