British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, cilt.44, sa.6, ss.534-537, 2006 (SCI-Expanded)
Ten fresh mandibles from adult sheep were stripped of all soft tissues and sectioned in the midline. We did sagittal split osteotomies and 5 mm advancement on all the 20 hemimandibles. Ten hemimandibles were fixed with three 2.0 mm × 13 mm titanium bicortical screws, and the other 10 were fixed with three 2.0 mm × 13 mm poly-l-lactic acid/polyglycolic acid (PLLA/PGA) bicortical screws in an inverted L pattern. All the hemimandibles were then mounted in a servohydraulic testing unit and tested to permanent deformation. Maximum forces that the mandibles resisted before breaking, maximum displacements, and the displacement values under 20, 60, 120, and 150 N were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test. There were no significant differences in stability between the bones fixed with titanium and those fixed with resorbable screws. © 2005 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.