UTHSC’s Faculty Win Health Care Heros Award for Innovation 

The UT Multidisciplinary Craniomaxillofacial Team has been honored with the Health Care Heroes Award for Innovation by the Business Journal. The team comprises Dr. Anas Eid, Chief of the Facial Plastic Surgery Division; Drs. Burton Wood and John Gleysteen from the Division of Head & Neck Surgery; and Drs. Brett Wilson and Jeffrey Brooks from the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at UTHSC.

This recognition was awarded for their groundbreaking “Jaw In A Day” procedure, in which they performed a single-stage reconstruction of half of a teenage boy’s face, including dental restoration. Their approach utilizes virtual surgical planning and 3D modeling to design bone segments harvested from the leg, precisely shaped to fit the skull. Custom cutting guides are created for both the facial and leg bones, enabling the team to construct a complex facial framework and place dental implants and teeth in a single operation allowing the patient to appear fairly normal on postoperative day 1.