Flap Hitching Technique to the Teeth after Oral Cancer Resection

Objectives: after resection of the tumors of oral cavity adjacent to the mandible, it is a common situation that the whole of one side of the gingival mucosal segment has to be stripped off the mandible to get an adequate margin. when a cutaneous flap is used for reconstruction, it has to be hitched to the teeth to get a watertight seal. we describe a technique to hitch the flap to the adjacent teeth in such an instance. materials and methods: the technique was applied in 10 patients with oral cancer, resected, and reconstructed with cutaneous flaps. results: the technique was found to be effective in all 10 patients. adequate seal was obtained in all patients. oral diet was started within 7 days. conclusion: an effective and simple technique to approximate a cutaneous flap to the teeth-bearing mandible, when all the mucosa is removed as part of oncological resection, is reported.