With the help of 3D printing technology, doctors reconstructed the jaw of a 20-year-old woman from Sudan at a private hospital in the city recently.

The patient, who preferred anonymity, approached Gleneagles Global Health City with a contour deformity of the lower jaw. She had undergone surgery to remove a benign tumour of the jaw a few months ago in Sudan.

A segment of the lower jaw bone was removed and the gap was bridged with the plate which caused major contour deformity in the due course and she could not close her mouth. She had difficulty in swallowing and her major concern was the face deformity and the absence of teeth on that side. The team of doctors, headed by S. Selva Seetha Raman, senior consultant plastic surgeon, Gleneagles Global Health City, planned for the reconstruction of the jaw bone.

The doctors with the help of 3D printing technology and CT scan image created a 3D mirror image of the opposite side to reconstruct an entire jaw bone model.