Maxillary defects often result from tumor resection, congenital malformation, trauma, or infection, leading to functional and esthetic impairments such as difficulties in swallowing, speech, and mastication and altered facial appearance. 1 Rehabilitation with an obturator combined with a removable partial denture (RPD) remains the mainstay for restoring patients with palatal defects.Traditionally, the 1-piece obturator-RPD, fabricated with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) has been widely applied in clinical practice. 2However, their excessive bulk and weight, monolithic design, and fabrication-related errors compromise retention, comfort, hygiene, maintenance, reproducibility, and precision. 3,4ith the rapid advancement of digital technologies -including computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM), 3-dimensional (3D) printing, and digital scanning-together with the introduction of new materials, such as elastic silicone and printable resins, segmental, split, or 2-piece obturator-RPDs based on a fully digital workflow have emerged as a focus in research and clinical applications. 5he core principle of the digital segmental obturator-RPD approach is to design and fabricate the
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.