Distraction Osteogenesis

Benefits of the Procedure

Since a large number of patients requiring mandibular reconstruction are children, there is a great incentive to develop approaches and techniques that achieve excellent outcomes but limit the number or severity of surgical procedures required. Around eighty-five percent of pediatric mandibular reconstruction patients require skeletal expansion, traditionally achieved by bone grafts or soft-tissue flaps harvested from the patient's hip, skull, or ribs. The goal of DO is to correct or repair facial deformities while avoiding donor-site harvesting.

There are additional benefits of DO. The procedure can be performed using minimally invasive techniques, sometimes even endoscopically. In micrognathic patients, studies show that DO permits the jaw to be moved greater distances than with conventional surgery and that the newly created bone appears to be more stable.

Candidates for the Procedure

During a consult with your oral and maxillofacial surgeon the doctor will discuss your or your child's diagnosis. Together you will decide on a treatment plan that is best. Candidates for DO are normally children with micrognathia, midface hyperplasia (cleft lip/palate, Crouzon or Apert syndrome) and those with acquired conditions resulting from trauma, tumor resection, or radiation therapy.

These procedures represent our doctors' commitment to providing the best patient outcomes by applying state of the art technologies to advancing the treatment of oral and maxillofacial anomalies.