Emine Fulya Akkoyun
Emine Fulya Akkoyun graduated from Erciyes University Faculty of Dentistry, Kayseri, Turkey, in 2010. She stayed at the same university for her postgraduate degree in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and earned her PhD and specialty degrees in 2017. She worked as a specialist at Oral and Dental Health Centers affiliated with the Ministry of Health in Sanliurfa and Istanbul for three years. She was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Beykent University, Istanbul, in 2020. After a year, she left and started to work as a clinical academic at Bezmialem Vakif University. She has been working at this institution as an Assistant Professor since January, 2023. Her research interests include orthognathic surgery, oral and maxillofacial pathology, and dental implantology.
“Patient – Specific” Concept in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
The application of digital technology in oral and maxillofacial surgery has become increasingly widespread with the advancements in computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) techniques. Many clinical studies have reported the accuracy of these techniques. CAD/CAM provides 3D visualization, simulation, prediction, and modeling. Besides, this technology helps surgeons perform patient-specific surgery and transfer the pre-surgical virtual planning to the operating room by using custom-made surgical splints, cutting guides, positioning the custom osteosynthesis or reconstruction plates’ screw holes or adapting distractors, taking into account the movements of the bone fragments. Patient-specific implants for reconstructing extensive defects due to benign or malign pathologies or trauma are manufactured to each patient’s anatomical characteristics. Furthermore, some clinical studies have demonstrated the success of custom-made root analog dental implants. This presentation briefly summarizes the current literature on the use of patient-specific surgical splints, cutting and repositioning guides, and custom-made implants to treat dentofacial deformities and shows several cases.