The use of cultured mucosal graft for preprosthetic surgery

The need to cover denuded mucosal surfaces, is common in oral and maxillofacial surgery. This is particularly a problem in preprosthetic surgery. The surgical options are secondary epithelialization, mucosal graft, skin graft or microvascular graft. The most common are mucosal graft and skin graft, however both have drawbacks. The skin graft displays a marked clinical difference as compared with the mucosa in consistency and color and with occasional hair growth. The mucosal graft is generally more suitable, but is limited by the surface available for harvesting. The purpose of this clinical article is to demonstrate the utility of autologous cultured mucosal sheets in preprosthetic surgery.