The oral surgery specialty encompasses a variety of surgical procedures, including dental implantation, jaw reconstruction, jaw and joint surgery, tooth removal, soft tissue removal and cleft lip and palate correction to name only a few. Please review the following examples of jaw surgery and the successful results! | |
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Before - Large protruding lower jaw and chin. After - Appearance after setback of lower jaw. |
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BEFORE - Receding upper jaw causing the appearance of large lower jaw and chin. AFTER - Improved appearance after forward repositioning of the upper jaw. |
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BEFORE - Receding lower jaw and chin as well as an excessively long (vertically) upper jaw. AFTER - Appearance after vertical shortening of the upper jaw and forward advancement of the lower jaw and chin. |
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LEANNA BEFORE - LEANNA AFTER - |
Leanna was born with upper and lower jaw deformities. She lives in Lithuania where surgeons did not have the training to correct her deformities, and hospitals could not provide the personnel for the expert post-operative care Leanna would require. From the time she was ten, doctors would tell Leanna that perhaps, in the near future, she would be able to have the surgery to correct her jaw line. Although Leanna was a good student, she never participated in the social activities that other children her age were engaged in. Her appearance made her feel like an outcast. Dr. John DiStefano became involved in the Partnership in Hope program in 1993. Partnership in Hope organizes the services of volunteer surgeons, anesthesiologists and surgical nurses as they travel to Lithuania to provide specialized surgical care for children needing these services. In 1995, the first surgical mission traveled from Cleveland, Ohio to its' sister-city of Klaipeda in Lithuania. Dr. DiStefano and his colleagues spent one week performing surgery on children who would have gone without the opportunity to have treatment. Patients are pre-screened and scheduled for surgery. Other patients are placed on a waiting list to be evaluated by the volunteering surgeons. Upon their arrival, the surgeons make evaluations and additional patients are chosen and scheduled for surgery. Leanna was in the group of patients to be evaluated by the visiting surgeons. In July of 1998, Leanna finally received her surgery. Although the program had made surgeons available, the staff needed to provide the special post-operative care to Leanna which was not available in Lithuania. So, Partnership in Hope arranged for Leanna to travel to Cleveland, Ohio for her surgery. Dr. DiStefano performed the surgery, repositioning her jaws. The upper jaw and teeth were moved forward and the lower jaw, teeth and chin were all moved back. The Surgery Center on Bagley road in Berea provided free use of its' facility and Anesthesia Care of Ohio also volunteered their services. Dr. DiStefano hosted Leanna at his home during her post-operative period. After ten years of waiting, Leanna's successful surgery is best illustrated by the happiness that radiates from her face in the "after" pictures. She is now a university student with a happy and active social life. One year after her surgery, to express their heart felt gratitude; Leanna and her family entertained Dr. John DiStefano, Dr. Paul Butin and Dr. Jerry Goldberg at a special dinner in the finest restaurant in Klaipeda. Through the Partnership of Hope program and the volunteer services provided by Dr. DiStefano and other medical personnel, Leanna is now a confident young woman with a bright smile and a bright future. | |
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