Twenty five years ago Adrian Sugar, Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon at Morriston Hospital in Swansea (then working in Chepstow) and the unit team  were the first  to introduce this pioneering technique to patients in the UK.  On Friday 21st September, after rehabilitating hundreds of patients in South Wales, the unit celebrates its quarter century.

This will be commemorated by a seminar at which the present team will be joined by patients, past staff and guests as well as the surgical and prosthetic team from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenberg in Sweden who were instrumental in guiding the team in their first cases.  Professor Anders Tjellstrom and Dr Kerstin Bergstrom will address the meeting and will join with others in looking forward to new developments in this field.

For many centuries people have worn artificial facial parts (facial prostheses) such as an ear, eye or nose and relied on unreliable glues or even spectacles to hold them in place.

From early research in Sweden Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark developed the technique of 'osseointegration' where bone grows around an implant of titanium metal placed in the bone, holding it firmly. This work led not only to the development of dental implants that are now available throughout the world, but also to the use of similar implants to anchor silicone facial parts, allowing patients to have the freedom to live a normal life without fear of losing part of their face.

This news item has been posted on behalf the the Institute of Life Sciences 2 (ILS2) by Delyth Purchase, Public Relations Office, 01792 513022 or email d.purchase@swansea.ac.uk