A one-year prospective study of mandibular fractures that included 253 consecutive patients with 422 mandibular fractures was completed at Charity Hospital, New Orleans. Nine major categories were studied. Patients with multiple mandibular fractures seemed to have a fracture pattern. Complications associated with mandibular fractures are influenced more by location of the fracture or fractures and the cause than by a few days' delay in treatment, the specific technique in treatment, or extraction of teeth associated with the fracture. Thorough knowledge of occlusion and the masticatory apparatus is paramount in successful treatment.