It was in 2017 that Arun Roy (name changed) was scathed by the kerosene lamp he used to study.
“I was studying, sitting over a small make-shift table, late into the night by the light of a kerosene lamp. The power was out in my village in Kolkata. The lamp burnt, as I drifted off to sleep. By midnight, my hand accidentally struck the table. The lamp tipped over, burning my hair, hand, and the sides of my face,” he recalled.
A severe infection developed on the burns, and the doctors there were unable to treat it. Encouraged by a friend, he travelled to Bengaluru in 2018, where he eventually met maxillofacial prosthodontist Dr PC Jacob, who would later help him with prosthetic ears.
“I felt very good after wearing them. It looked very good,” Arun said.
His case was demonstrated during a three-day auricular prosthesis workshop conducted at the Grace Dental Lab in Bengaluru from May 14 to 16. The workshop trained dentists and prosthodontists in the fabrication of silicone ear prostheses for patients who lose external ear structures due to burns, trauma, cancer, or congenital conditions such as microtia.
What is maxillofacial prosthetics?
“Dentistry has many advanced branches that the general public is often unaware of. The field of maxillofacial prosthetics deals with rehabilitation for patients who have lost facial structures like ears, eyes, or parts of the jaw due to cancer, trauma, or congenital conditions,” said Dr Jacob, who conducted the workshop along with Anaplastologist Mr Jibran Munaver.
Dr Jacob, who trained at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1996, under renowned maxillofacial prosthodontist John Beumer III, said the speciality was relatively unknown in India when he returned in 1997.
Since then, he has spent nearly three decades training dentists, conducting workshops, and working alongside surgeons, prosthodontists, and technicians to rehabilitate patients requiring facial and oral prostheses.
The workshop brought together eight participants, including prosthodontists, anaplastologists and clinicians working in cancer rehabilitation. According to the organisers, participants were trained in the complete “clinical-to-lab workflow” of creating auricular prostheses, including wax sculpture, silicone processing, implant-supported prosthetic attachment, and live patient rehabilitation procedures.
“It was an eye-opening workshop that provided intricate insights into the complete workflow from planning to final prosthesis fabrication,” said Dr Annie John, who took part in the workshop.
Another participant, Dr Mahalakshmi Gujjalapudi, said the workshop offered practical exposure to rehabilitation procedures for patients who have lost external ear structures. “Every step was demonstrated with great effort and high precision. The dedication and willingness to share their knowledge shown by the entire team is highly appreciated,” she said.
Dr Jacob emphasised that maxillofacial prosthodontics is inherently a "team effort" rather than a one-person job, requiring absolute coordination between multiple specialists. He explained that for a patient to be successfully rehabilitated, a collective of experts, including head and neck surgeons, oral maxillofacial surgeons, prosthodontists, anaplastologists, and specialised technicians, must all "be on the same page" to achieve the final result.
Accessibility and affordability
Dr Jacob said that accessibility remains one of the field’s biggest challenges.
He emphasised that maxillofacial prosthodontics is a uniquely rewarding branch of dentistry because of its profound impact on a patient's existence. While other forms of dentistry are satisfying, "nothing is life-changing like this”, he noted.
The life-changing nature of the work is often tied to restoring a person's ability to engage with the world. He contrasted the experience of his patients with common dental issues to highlight the psychological weight they carry.
“How many of us will walk out of the house even if we have a broken tooth? These people don't have an eye, or an ear, or a nose,” Dr Jacob explained. He further argued that replacing these structures is far from vanity, stating that even if others view it as aesthetic, for the patient, "it's life changing"
Dr Jacob also highlighted the critical need for this speciality in India due to the high volume of cases requiring rehabilitation. He pointed out that India is the "world capital of oral cancer," resulting in a massive number of patients who require reconstruction and rehabilitation to lead functional lives.
He stressed that his work is often misunderstood as purely cosmetic by insurance companies, when it is actually essential for basic function. For example, he explains that for a patient with a reconstructed jaw, providing teeth is "not cosmetic but as doctors... that is functional for the patient".
Dr Jacob went on to cite a significant lack of trained faculty and centres in India to handle these complex cases. His mission, he said, is to "mentor the youngsters" to ensure this "art and science" can eventually reach the masses.
While prosthodontics is taught as part of MDS dental education in India, specialised training in maxillofacial prosthetics remains limited to a handful of institutions.
Dr Jacob added that newer digital technologies, such as silicone printing and scanning-based prosthetic design, may transform the field in the future, though affordability remains a major barrier in India.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.