OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of drilling procedure following the hydroxyapatite orbital implantation. METHODS: From February 1996 to April 2000, 146 consecutive patients who received hydroxyapatite orbital implant were drilled and inserted a motility peg 6 to 16 months after hydroxyapatite implantation. Among them, there were 97 males and 49 females, aged from 18 to 60 years old, of the 146 motility pegs, 36 were sleeved pegs and 110 were nonsleeved. Goldman visual field analyzer was applied to measure the degree of artificial eye’s movement before and after drilling. RESULTS: Followed up for 1 to 40 months, no secondary infection occurred. The mobility of the prosthesis increased from (18.7 +/- 3.8) degrees preoperatively to (42.3 +/- 3.7) degrees postoperatively. CONCLUSION: The delayed drilling procedure and motility peg insertion improve the range of movement and the sensitivity of the artificial eye with a low rate of complications.