Jaw Reconstruction

When patients have cancerous or benign tumors in the mandible, excision of these lesions can result in the removal of part of the jaw and any associated teeth. Often, these patients are unable to have dental implants in the future, especially if they need radiation after surgery since that can prevent the potential of dental implantation in the future. As a result, many patients may be unable to eat solid food long-term, resulting in a significant decrease in overall quality of life. Our goal at Stanford is to provide a novel solution to this problem by providing dental reconstruction at the time of their tumor removal surgery.

Our dental reconstruction program offers patients either immediate or delayed restoration of dentition after tumor excision. Prior to undergoing surgery, patients will be evaluated by our multidisciplinary team including a head and neck surgeon and a member of our oral surgery/dental team. Imaging scans of the jaws and teeth are used to create a virtual surgical plan to plan for implants that can restore the patient’s existing dentition and also create a temporary dental prosthesis that mimics a patient’s natural teeth.

On the day of surgery, we resect the tumor and rebuild the jaw with bone that is most commonly taken from the fibula (a non weight-bearing bone in the leg). Then the team places dental implants into the fibula using our preplanned customized surgical guide. Then the whole construct is secured to the remaining mandible to create a new jaw. Depending on the type of soft tissue coverage needed, these implants are either buried to be used later or the temporary prosthesis is placed immediately to allow for immediate restoration of dentition (“Jaw in a day”).

This procedure takes about eight to ten hours, and healing can take 6 months or more, depending on need for further therapy such as radiation therapy. Once patients are fully healed, then we create a permanent prosthesis for the patient.

The physicians and specialists performing this innovative procedure at Stanford are dedicated to ensuring the highest standard of care and successful outcomes for all patients.