The treatment objective of mandibular fracture is a return to normal function. According to Champy, a rigid fixation of mandibular angle fracture is performed by using 4 or 6 holes titanium miniplates on the external oblique ridge of mandible. However, the limitations of metal plate such as hypersensitivity, interference with the cranio-facial growth of growing child, secondary bone resorption around the plate, foreign body reaction, declination of primary callus formation, and bone atrophy due to the lack of normal stress reaction of the bone have been reported. Recently, biodegradable miniplate has been introduced and used as an alternative to the metal plate despite its lower strength than that of the titanium plate and the side effect caused by the resorption in the body. In this study, 61 patients diagnosed as mandibular angle fracture and treated from Jan. 1998 to Dec. 2004 in our department have been reviewed. Metal plate fixation was used in 50 patients and biodegradable plate fixation in 11 patients on the external oblique ridge around the fractured mandibular angle according to the principle of monocortical osteosynthesis by Champy. We compared the incidence of side effects and the degree of bony union at the mandibular inferior border in two different fixation methods. In conclusion, we have found that one miniplate regardless of matter could provide enough strength to grasp bony fragments of the tension site and compress the inferior border of mandible without any complications.