Purpose: To understand the current situation and needs of occlusal function exercise in patients with mandibular defects after oral tumor surgery. METHODS： Twenty-seven patients with mandibular defects after oral tumor surgery were interviewed semi-structurally by objective sampling method. The three-level coding system of rooting theory was used for reference, and Nvivo11 qualitative analysis software was used for bottom-up coding analysis.
Results: The current situation and needs of occlusal function exercise in patients with mandibular defects can be summarized into five themes, the impact of mandibular defects on patients, lack of knowledge related to occlusal function exercise, demand for content of occlusal function exercise (looking forward to professional health guidance), demand for education methods of occlusal function exercise(expecting diversified education methods and various obstacles to reduce patient compliance).
Conclusions: To establish a unified and standardized program of occlusal function exercise, doctors and nurses should pay attention to various obstacles of patients, adjust the psychological state of patients, and maximize the compliance of patients with occlusal function exercise.