and found that 15 teeth (18%) revealed no signs
of SE, 49 teeth (58%) displayed SE of less than
2mm, whereas 20 teeth (24%) showed moderate
to severe SE. Craddock and Youngson 9 examined
155 unopposed sites in 120 subjects and found
the rate of SE in 83% of the sites. However, in both
studies, the pattern of missing teeth was ill-defined
and probably not displaying SDA situations.
In a questionnaire study of 200 Swedish dentists
presented with a drawing of an SDA in the
mandible in a virtual case, 85% of them suggested
that marked SE of the maxillary molars would
occur, whereas 13% believed in minor changes. 10
In a large sample of patients with SDA and extreme
SDA, Sarita et al. found that SE of unopposed teeth
was absent or mild in 12%, severe in 32% and to the
opposing residual ridge (severe SE) in 56% of the
subjects. 11 However, the authors did not provide
data with regard to the pattern of posterior tooth
loss, though alluding to gradual tooth loss in their
study.
The aim of the present study was to assess the rate
and timing of possible SE of unopposed posterior
teeth in a select group of postsurgical patients.
2. Methodology
2.1. Subjects
The study group included consecutive patients
who were hospitalized in the Department of Oral
and Maxillofacial Surgery, Beilinson Campus,
Rabin Medical Center, Israel, during the 1990-
2009 period. The study protocol was reviewed and
approved by the Rabin Medical Center Institutional
Ethical Committee and in accordance with the
Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.
Medical data such as clinical photographs,
radiographs, type of surgical procedures and
histopathological findings, were gleaned from
hospital records. The inclusion criteria were: (1)
surgical resection of a tumor in a posterior region
of one of the jaws limited to bone and attached soft
tissues; (2) immediate mandibular reconstruction
of non-conti