Editors: Giorgio De Santis, Peter G. Cordeiro, Luigi Chiarini

2019

The advent of microsurgery in the 1980s dramatically expanded the options for reconstructing defects of the lower and upper jaws, providing the reconstructive surgeon with a wider choice of flaps of skin, soft tissue, and bone. Osteocutaneous free flaps to restore segmental bony defects include the iliac crest, scapula, radius, and fibula, which have radically improved aesthetic and functional outcomes in the ensuing decades. Advantages and disadvantages of each donor site relate to the quality and extent of bone and its ability to be osteotomized and shaped, as well as the amount of soft tissue and skin.