The buccal fad pad lined with a metabolic active dermal replacement (Dermagraft) for treatment of defects of the buccal plane

The buccal fad pad flap (BFPF) is an easy to raise pedicled flap for closure of intraoral defects with barely any donor defect. The major disadvantage of the BFPF is the missing epithelial lining, which can induce fibrous tissue formation with resulting functional impairment. To overcome this problem we lined the BFPF with a dermal replacement (Dermagraft) consisting of living metabolic active fibroblasts. In six patients, defects resulting from tumour removal were reconstructed with a combination of the BFPF and Dermagraft and followed up for at least 2 years. In all patients a defect closure was achieved with no functional impairment. The clinical character which was achieved was more a type of defect regeneration than a flap closure. The availability of bioengineered metabolic active tissue can overcome the major problem of the BFPF as an option for defect closure of the buccal side. Furthermore the regeneration of the defects optimises clinical tumour monitoring.