Summary: Four years ago, a British man named Eric Moger had a tennis-ball sized tumor removed from the left side of his face, along with most of his face itself. Because of the surgery, Moger had to eat and drink through tubes inserted into his stomach. But Moger’s life changed recently, as doctors used CT and facial scans to create a blueprint for the part of his skull they had to remove. That blueprint was then used to create a perfectly fitted facial prosthetic out of nylon plastic, which was attached to his skull and let him to eat and drink normally again. The success of the printing and surgery has led the implant specialist who helped create Moger’s 3D-printed jaw and face prosthetic to hope to develop techniques to allow 3D printing in silicone. 3D printing is still extremely new, but that hasn’t stopped remarkable stories like this. As the technology improves, 3D printing’s role in medicine will expand and bringing hope to people that traditional procedures couldn’t help.
