Implants make children smile

Jacqui Walls

Around 50 youngsters, including a 12-year-old girl who could barely open her mouth since birth, are now grinning from ear to ear after the life-changing surgery.

The implants have been developed by scientists from the University of Nottingham who teamed up with Russian researchers to create the polymer material a honeycomb-like alternative to traditional titanium structures.

The PolyHap implants are being used as part of clinical trials in Moscow, where many of the children treated have suffered serious injuries affecting their faces.

Among the patients who have undergone surgery is Kseniya Gordeeva, 12, who suffered jaw damage at birth and could barely open her mouth.

Kseniya had to eat through a straw, had difficulty talking and found it almost impossible to clean her teeth. She was also underweight for her age.

During a five-hour operation the section of damaged bone was removed and a two-inch implant was inserted into her face.

Nine days later she was able to open her mouth without so much effort and can eat, laugh and talk.

"If I wanted to get my mouth open before the operation I had to lean my head right back. Now I can talk like my friends and eat normally," she says.

Professor Vitaly Roginsky, one of Russia's leading children's cranio-maxillo- facial surgeons, has been carrying out the facial corrective surgery for the trials.

He also treated Anara Djantemiroma, 15, who suffered under-development of the jaw as a young girl. This was corrected in a series of operations, the final one involving insertion of an implant.

Prof Roginsky said: "These implants allow us to carry out many more operations than before. They are easier to adjust and reshape and give us much more flexibility.

When a child is assessed for an operation at the St Vladimir Children's Hospital, Moscow, scientists use X-rays and tomography images to create a 3-D plastic cast. These biomodels allow surgeons to plan operations with great precision.

Having assessed how much bone needs to be removed, the scientists use stereolithography to make the individual PolyHap implants.

So far the Moscow operations have been carried out to correct jaw or skull deformities. But the implants can be adapted for any part of the skeleton.