Reconstructive science
Reconstructive science is concerned with the corrective treatment of patients with malformation, cancer or trauma – especially in the skull, jaw and face.
In this area of healthcare science, you’ll specialise in the prosthetic reconstruction and therapeutic management of patients needing corrective treatment due to malformation, cancer or trauma.
Working life
As a clinical scientist working in reconstructive sciences, you’ll specialise in the prosthetic reconstruction and therapeutic management of the patient.
You will design, construct and apply custom-made medical devices for patients such as:
- realistic prostheses [1]
- intra-oral prosthetics
- therapeutic splints
- implantable devices
- titanium skull plates
Such treatment could be required for a variety of reasons, such as malformation from birth, the effects of a disease such as cancer, or the result of trauma. You could be working on any area of the body but particularly the jaw, face and skull of a patient.
In your work you’ll usually:
- meet patients in order to assess their needs, explain exactly what you need to do to treat them and how long it will take
- take an impression of the patient and book subsequent appointments at your clinic. Some splints will require you to take the impression in an operating theatre
- be required to attend theatre to give advice on the positioning of any implants for the fixation of the prosthesis.
At follow-up appointments, you’ll design and sculpt the device for the patient using wax, acrylic or clay and try-on and colour-match culminating in the fitting of the device. You’ll also be required to arrange ongoing monitoring and review of the patient and device.
You may be called on for advice by other clinical colleagues in emergency cases - such as constructing special splints to be used in theatre for a patient who has been in a car accident or suffered other facial trauma.
Who will I work with?
Typically, you’ll work in a maxillofacial or plastic surgery department within an NHS hospital.
You’ll work as part of a team which could includes oral and maxillofacial surgeons [2], plastic surgeons [3], ear, nose and throat surgeons [4], oncologists [5], dental technologists [6], maxillofacial prosthetists, ocular prosthetists, nurses [7], allied health professionals [8] and other healthcare science staff.
Want to learn more?
- Find out more about the entry requirements, skills and interests required to enter a career in reconstructive science [9]
- Find out more about the training you’ll receive for a career in reconstructive science [10]