Reconstructive surgery after oral cancer isn’t just about the way that you look and issues such self esteem and confidence but could actually alleviate conditions that could be potentially life threatening.
It is estimated by the American Cancer Society that about 28,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year and from among those, over 7,000 will die. It is suggested that reconstructive surgery may be life saving.
One Web MD video talks about a patient with oral cancer, who had to have his jaw removed consequent to developing jaw cancer.
However reconstructive surgery was performed using the bone from the leg from the fibula, the small thin outer bone of the leg between the knee and the ankle. It is then sawed to form the same shape as the person’s jaw line.
It is also suggested that surgeons can be more aggressive removing the actual disease from the person thereby giving them a better chance at surviving the cancer and being able to live a longer disease free life.
So there can be different kinds of reconstructive surgery for different kinds of cancers and many of them may well be about something far more than mere vanity or even self esteem.
