Who is the dental "Elephant man"?
and how did I meet him?
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Well, I never actually met the "Dental elephant man". I don't even know his name and I never treated him. Here's what happened...
It all started with a message I recieved early in the new year. It was a text message from Dr. Hafid Milan, an oral surgeon from the Philippines. He had a patient needing help and wanted to ask for my opinion about gingival hyperplasia and overgrowth. The patient was a young Phillipino man with big problem.
Most severe case I've ever seen
I asked for photos and...
From the second I saw them, I knew we were dealing with something severe. This wasn't gingival hyperplasia. This was something completely different.
It's not caused by local factors, medications or other common factors. He is a young man with a sad disabilty and severe disfigurement. This was a genetic codition called...
Gingival FIBROMATOSIS
A genetic condition causing severe gingival overgrowth and happens in 1:100,000 people. Patients with this gene mutation are otherwise healthy. The gingiva covers most of the teeth and will often protrude out of the oral cavity. It obviously causes dental and periodontal problems secondary to the overgrowth. But the real problem is that these patients are...
...Removed from society
Their appearance will cause redicule and avoidance. Simply put: "They look scary".
Most are made fun of and discriminated against. This patient spent most of his life at home and away from people that mock him. Looked at as "monsters", patients with severe fibromatosis will go into depression and other problems related to social oysterization.
Beyond his immediate dental concerns, this patient needs to be helped to regain the confidence and freedom every human deserves.
There is a beautiful human being inside.
What happened with this patient?
I called this patient "The dental Elephant man" based on the movie "The Elephant man" telling the story of a person with neurofibromatosis and his social struggles. People with external deformities have beautiful sensitive souls that can be hurt and brutalized by some of society's cruel behavior.
SOMETHING needed to be done.
Click below to see how this patient was helped
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