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Tufts University - Tufts University TUSDM Beyond Boundaries Case Statement - Index

Above: seventeen-year-
old Moriah Leaver of New
Bedford, Massachusetts, was
referred to Dr. Papageorge
as a child for reconstruction
of an underdeveloped lower
jaw.
M A R I A P A P A G E O R G E , D 8 , D G 8 6 , D G 8 9
Professor and Chair, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Ask Dr. Maria Papageorge about the cases
that have touched her heart and the director
of the postgraduate program in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery recalls a little girl from
New Hampshire.
The child was born without the joints that
enabled her jaw to open or close. She was
five when a series of operations began that
reconstructed her temporomandibular joints
using grafts from her ribs, a process that
enabled her jaw to grow properly.
“Now she’s perfect, and going off to college,”
says Dr. Papageorge. There have been so
many cases like that one.
“These kids invite me to their graduations,
they send me prom pictures and Christmas
cards,” Dr. Papageorge says. “They become
part of the family here.
“These are the kinds of cases that most
private practitioners can’t take, because they
don’t have the resources. But they know that
when they refer patients to us, their patients
will return to say, ‘Thank you for sending me
to Tufts.’
“I love patient care. I love being able to
help people. Really, it’s a very rewarding
experience. Oral surgery bridges the medical
and dental worlds, and as an oral surgeon
you take care of the whole patient. You can
do some great things for people.”