Complex stresses are created or applied as part of medical and dental treatments, which are linked to the achievement of treatment goals and favorable prognosis. Photoelasticity is an optical technique that can help observe and understand biomechanics, which is essential for planning, evaluation and treatment in health professions. The objective of this project was to review the existing information on the use of photoelasticity in medicine and dentistry and determine their purpose, the areas or treatments for which it was used, models used as well as to identify areas of opportunity for the application of the technique and the generation of new models. A literature review was carried out to identify publications in dentistry and medicine in which photoelasticity was used as an experimental method. The databases used were: Sciencedirect, PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, Springer, EBSCO, Wiley, Lilacs, Medigraphic Artemisa and SciELO. Duplicate and incomplete articles were eliminated, obtaining 84 articles published between 2000 and 2019 for analysis. In dentistry, ten subdisciplines were found in which photoelasticity was used; those related to implants for fixed prostheses were the most abundant. In medicine, orthopedic research predominates; and its application is not limited to hard tissues. No reports were found on the use of photoelastic models as a teaching aid in either medicine or dentistry. Photoelasticity has been widely used in the context of research where it has limitations due to the characteristics of the results provided by the technique, there is no evidence of use in the health area to exploit its application in learning biomechanics; on the other hand there is little development in models that faithfully represent the anatomy and characteristics of the different tissues of the human body, which opens the opportunity to take up the qualitative results offered by the technique to transpolate it to an application and clinical learning.

Osseointegrated implants are regularly used for retention and stability of maxillofacial prosthesis, especially in palatal obturator with large defects and few remaining teeth. In these cases, loads that tissues receive from a prosthesis can cause bone resorption and thus enlarge the defect. Implants may help redistribute the loads on the perimplant bone crest and avoid exacerbating the defect. The authors present a case in which the palatal defect has increased overtime. After placement of a sealing prosthesis with implants, bone and mucosal tissues stability around the defect it is observed during 1 year of follow-up.

Obturators and facial prostheses are important not only in rehabilitation and aesthetics, but also in patient re-socialisation. The level of reintegration is directly related to the degree of satisfaction with rehabilitation. So, the maxillofacial prosthetics must provide patient satisfaction during treatment. This study aimed to search information in database and conduct a literature review on patient satisfaction with maxillofacial prosthesis. The problems experienced by these patients may decrease when specialists keep the patient on regular inspection. Rehabilitation through alloplasty or prosthetic restoration provides satisfactory conditions in aesthetics and well-being and reinstates individuals in familial and social environment.

Prosthodontics should be one of the means of establishing conditions for the maintenance of periodontal health. The forces applied to the abutment teeth and their effects are very important considerations in the design and construction of the removable partial dentures. This 6-month follow-up clinical study evaluated the degree of mobility of abutment teeth of distal extension and tooth supported removable partial dentures by using Periotest. Two types of clasp design were selected for evaluation. In cases with unilateral and bilateral distal-extension, a clasp design including a T clasp of Roach retentive arm, a rigid reciprocal arm and a mesial rest were used. For the abutments of tooth-supported removable partial dentures, a second clasp design with a cast circumferential buccal retentive arm, a rigid reciprocal clasp arm and a rest adjacent to the edentulous ridges was selected. A total of 68 abutment teeth was analysed. Periotest values were made at the time of denture placement (control) and at 1, 3 and 6 months after the denture placement. The statistical analysis was performed using Friedman test. All analysis was performed at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revelled that no significant changes in tooth mobility were observed during the 6-months follow-up (P > 0.05). In conclusion, our findings suggest that adequate oral hygiene instructions, careful prosthetic treatment planning and regular recall appointments play an important role in preventing changes in abutment tooth mobility caused by removable partial denture placement.

The rehabilitation of patients with acquired defects of the maxilla is a challenge in terms of reestablishing oronasal separation. In most patients these goals are met by means of prosthetic rehabilitation with an obturator prosthesis. If the remaining dentition does not offer sufficient retention and support, the placement of zygoma implants can enhance the stability of the prosthesis. Due to the anatomic intricacies of the zygomatic bone and the implant length, computer-supported navigated implant placement can be advantageous. In the following clinical report, a diabetic patient with a status of posthemimaxillectomy secondary to aspergillusis infection is presented, in whom a zygoma implant was placed using a CT scan-based navigation system. A special retentive anchoring abutment was used to integrate the zygoma implant into a telescopic crown-retained denture on the residual dentition. This tooth-implant-supported obturator prosthesis restored function and phonetics, as well as esthetics, for this young patient.