Patient satisfaction of orbital prosthesis fabricated by the aid of rapid prototyping technology versus conventional technique in orbital defect patients: A crossover randomized clinical trial

Purpose: This study is to compare two types of orbital prosthesis fabrication techniques, the indirect rapid prototyping (RP) technology versus the conventional technique regarding; patient satisfaction and dimensional accuracy.

Material and Methods: Eight patients with orbital defects (age range 10-45 years) were selected to be included in a cross-over randomized trial. The patients were divided into two equal groups: Group A patients (n=4) received an orbital prosthesis constructed by conventional technique followed by another one constructed by rapid prototyping technology. Group B patients (n=4) received the same treatment as the first group but in a reversed order. Patient satisfaction was evaluated through questionnaire while dimensional accuracy in comparison to the normal side was calculated for both techniques. Numerical data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. For parametric data; Paired t-test was used to compare between prostheses and the normal side. For non-parametric data; Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare between the two techniques.

Results: Orbital prostheses made by aid of RP technology showed statistically significant higher mean satisfaction score than the conventional technique (P ≤ 0.05), both prostheses showed insignificant less eye fissure height dimensions in comparison to normal side but conventional technique showed significant less eye fissure length.

Conclusion: Rapid prototyping technology improved patient`s satisfaction regarding the orbital prosthesis and it was proved to be superior than conventional technique in dimensional accuracy. (Int J Maxillofac Prosthetics 2019;1:27-32)