Prostheses Smooth Surfaced

Biomaterials are by definition materials that assume the functions of tissue in natural organs or organ parts. They must therefore imitate the properties of such tissue as well as possible. For example, a vascular prosthesis must exhibit a tension-expansion curve highly similar to that of a natural blood vessel, as well as a smooth inner surface which corresponds to the endothelial covering. In other words, a biomaterial must be made to act as much as possible like the natural tissue in Its biological environment - in the case of vascular prostheses in the environment of blood, tissue, and interstitial fluid -, it must withstand biodegradation and prove to be biocompatible (Table 1). 

In clinical practice, it has been observed that facial prostheses can cause irritation, abrasion and sometimes ulceration of the supporting tissues. If the tissue side of the facial prosthesis is left as a negative of the actual tissue texture, it will act as sandpaper as it abrades the tissue surface in function. Therefore, the tissue side of the prosthesis must be smoothed and polished to eliminate abrasion. In addition, the hydrophobic characteristics of polysiloxane... 

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