Otofacial syndrome

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Otofacial syndrome
Specialty Oral and maxillofacial surgeon

Otofacial syndrome is an extraordinarily rare congenital deformity in which a person is born without a mandible, and, consequently, without a chin.

Mandible The lower jaw bone

The mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human face. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone of the skull.

Chin facial feature

The chin or the mental region is the area of the face below the lower lip and including the mandibular prominence. It is formed by the lower front of the mandible.

Contents

In nearly all cases, the child does not survive because it is unable to breathe and eat properly. Even with reconstructive surgery, the tongue is extremely underdeveloped, making unaided breathing and swallowing impossible.

Reconstructive surgery MUHAHA!>:-}

Reconstructive surgery is, in its broadest sense, synonymous with plastic surgery. Commonly, however, reconstructive surgery is understood as the use of surgery to restore the form and function of the body, which does not include aesthetic or cosmetic surgery. For example, plastic surgeons, maxillo-facial surgeons and otolaryngologists do reconstructive surgery on faces after trauma and to reconstruct the head and neck after cancer.

Tongue mouth organ that tastes and facilitates speech

The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of most vertebrates that manipulates food for mastication, and is used in the act of swallowing. It is of importance in the digestive system and is the primary organ of taste in the gustatory system. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue also serves as a natural means of cleaning the teeth. A major function of the tongue is the enabling of speech in humans and vocalization in other animals.

Cause

Treatment

The first challenge to survival is assisted breathing and tubal feeding. This is a lifelong affair, generally requiring the patient to spend nearly all of the time under direct hospital care.

American surgeons successfully used bone from the hip of an Irish teenager named Alan Doherty to rebuild a jaw and chin. Surgeons began the procedures in June 2007 and completed the final of seven surgeries on 25 August 2008. Doherty is now able to smile, but is still unable to breathe, eat, or speak on his own. [1] [2]

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Ireland Island in north-west Europe, 20th largest in world, politically divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK)

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

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The term dentofacial deformity describes an array of dental and maxillo-mandibular abnormalities, often presenting with a malocclusion, which is not amenable to orthodontic treatment alone and definitive treatment needs surgical alignment of upper/lower jaws or both. Individuals with dentofacial deformities often present with lower quality of life and compromised functions with respect to breathing, swallowing, chewing, speech articulation, and lip closure/posture. It is estimated that about 5% of general population present with dentofacial deformities that are not amenable to orthodontic treatment only.

References

  1. "Surgeons give teenager a new chin". BBC News. 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  2. "A New Face for Teenager Born Without Jaw". Fox News. 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-12-19.