Reduction splint for edentulous patients

A surgical technique for reduction of an oral fracture in an edentulous or partially edentulous subject or patient, comprising:

• scanning or imaging a jaw of each of a plurality of individuals in a patient population to determine an array of dimensions of said jaws of said plurality of individuals;
• manipulating said array of dimensions to generate a representative set of dimensions that is representative of a subset of said patient population;
• importing results of said manipulation into one or more software applications that creates an image of a jaw representative of said subset of said patient population, said representative jaw including a maxilla and a mandible;
• outlining an upper palate of said representative jaw on said one or more software applications;
• outlining a lower palate of said representative jaw on said one or more software applications;
• interpolating a distance between said outline of said upper palate and said outline of said lower palate on said one or more software applications;
• indicating said distance as an initial splint configuration on said one or more software applications;
• removing bone and dentition of said maxilla and said mandible from said image of said representative jaw on said one or more software applications;
• and
• splitting said initial splint configuration into a maxillary splint and a mandibular splint on said one or more software applications, thus forming a virtual image of said oral splint;
• fabricating said oral splint based on said virtual image of said oral splint;
• positioning and securing said maxillary splint of said fabricated oral splint on said maxilla of said subject or patient in a normal or reduced fracture position of said maxilla;
• and
• positioning and securing said mandibular splint of said fabricated oral splint on said mandible of said subject or patient in a normal or reduced fracture position of said mandible.