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Patients with traumatic clefts of the earlobes are more frequently presenting for repair. Expectations are changing regarding the desire to wear earrings soon after the repair has been completed. This paper will discuss different repair techniques and indications/limitations for each procedure.

Autologous bone grafting has proved to be an effective method for bony augmentation, interpositional buttressing, and reconstruction of the maxillofacial region. The anterior iliac crest is frequently chosen as a donor site because of the availability of cortical and cancellous bone and applicability of a two-team approach. Several techniques have been described to harvest anterior iliac bone,‘.’ yielding up to 50 cc uncompressed cancellous bone.3 Many of these approaches involve use of relatively large osteotomies and significant muscle stripping, which may potentiate hemorrhage and create prolonged gait disturbances. We describe a technique that provides adequate retrieval of cancellous bone for most maxillofacial reconstructive procedures through a minimally invasive procedure.

Intraoral surgical procedures produce scar tissue formation that may limit mandibular opening. Many procedures have been developed to release these scar contractures, but most lead to further scar formation and greater limitation in opening. The purpose of this article to describe a technique with the use of an intraoperatively fabricated self-curing acrylic bite block combined with aggressive physical therapy in the management of this difficult clinical problem.

Late infection of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) prosthesis is a rare complication.1 To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an infected total TMJ prosthesis occurring from possible hematogenous bacterial seeding in an intravenous (IV) drug abuser.