Shabir A Shah¹, Nadeem Yunus², Nishant Gaba³, Noopur Rathi^4,

Maxillofacial prosthesis (MFP) is a customised prosthesis; therefore, one requires a blend of multiple skills in individualising them for a specific patient. Retention of these prostheses largely depends on available hard and soft tissues, based on which the retention aids can be either mechanical or chemical. Most extraoral prostheses, irrespective of mechanical retention, cannot adhere to the skin for which chemical adhesives are used. While most of the published research focuses on materials, this review has been aimed at collecting evidence-based information on the technical aspects of both mechanical and chemical aids used to retain different types of MFP. Four medical databases were searched for relevant research articles using relevant terms in combination with Boolean operators. The search produced 137 research articles, and after careful evaluation of the articles, about 79 research articles fulfilled the criteria for this review. The technical considerations for the mechanical and chemical aids were further searched from relevant manufacturer catalogues. The review provides a comprehensive clinically oriented background of both in terms of clinical application.

oral cancers, maxillofacial prosthesis, maxillectomy, hemi mandibulectomy, maxillofacial implants