Some rehabilitation treatments such as dental devices, TMJ or sleep apnoea, trauma devices, skin and bone implants and surgical planning will take place without you needing to be seen on the outpatient clinic.

Most of our clinical rehabilitation treatments for facial and body prostheses, medical splints, micro-pigmentation and other specialist medical devices will require patient assessment. You will be invited to the outpatient clinic at your hospital.

The assessment you have may differ from the description below, as every patient treatment is individual. However this will give you a guide of what to expect.

Initial appointment

At your initial appointment you will be introduced to the Maxillofacial Prosthetist and told why you have been referred to that clinic
You will be asked some basic medical history questions relating to your referral and then the area to be treated will be examined
A treatment plan will be outlined to you and you will be asked if you wish to proceed with treatment (consent).
If you wish to proceed and the site has healed well following any surgery then you may have a mould taken of the area

Impression or mould of you

The impression or mould is very similar to that taken in your mouth by a dentist. It gives us a copy of you, which we can pour and then have an exact duplicate of you to work on. This working model is the basis for all prostheses so that it is a custom fit to you.

The impression will be taken using dental materials. It should be painless and take only a short time to complete
Further records may be taken and you will be asked to return to the clinic for the next appointment

Further outpatient appointments

Designing/sculpting

We will use the working model and information we took at the first appointment to start work on your prosthesis.
This next appointment will be to design and sculpt the shape of your prosthesis. The process is very similar if it was a facial or body prosthesis.

Wax or clay is used to carve and sculpt the required shape
It may take several visits to get this right
Once the shape is finished you will be shown the final shape

Colour matching

We match the material of the prosthesis (usually silicone) to your skin tone. This will take some time to match correctly.

Processing

When we are all happy with the shape and colour match for your prosthesis we will then return to the laboratory to make the final mould. The silicone we have coloured will be packed into the mould and then the mould squeezed together until the silicone has set. When we open the mould the silicone will have been formed into the shape of your missing skin.

Final fitting

We tint your prosthesis to fit unique characteristics of your skin if necessary and add small details such as hair to the surface. The use of your prosthesis will be carefully demonstrated to you.