Facial Disfigurement after Cancer Resection: A Problem with an Extra Dimension

Treatment of patients with maxillofacial defects includes not only the technical procedures involved in producing a prosthesis, but also the psychosocial aspects. In all cases, these patients must learn to live with a severe facial disfigurement. People born with congenital defects grow up with disfigurement. For cancer patients, in addition to the mutilation, fear of the tumor plays a significant role. This paper reports on research into this specific treatment aspect. Such patients first must learn to cope with the possibility of premature death. They then must learn to accept facial disfigurement and the fact that society will respond differently to them.