I've always wondered if instead of the silicon-based implants for some parts of the body, particularly the chin, could be substituted with a solid piece of material, maybe plastic or even titanium or harder metals, to create sort of a bone extension. I've no actual example of this exact idea working, but there are quite similar cases.
What I mean by Bone-extension, is that it would be used on people with functional bones but underdeveloped ones, such as missing-chin, weak bones and things like that, and would not serve the functionality of a prosthesis, as the prosthesis replaces the missing bones, while these "implants" would only add up to the bone preexisting structure. That would be something 3D printed based on the needs of the patient.
For example, this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrASOLP4Fg8
in which surgeons created the missing bone due to HMF, or Hemifacial Microsomia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemifacial_microsomia) which leads to an underdeveloped part of the mandible (If I understand correctly). And to solve that, a titanium prosthesis was created to fit exactly the needs of the patient.
What I'm talking about is quite similar to the one shown in the video, but the purpose as stated below is not to replace a bone, but to enhance a pre-existing one. The material could be titanium like in the video or a more elastic one that wouldn't create many problems in case of a fall, for example (in which case it would absorb part of the impact and not deliver it completely on the fragile bone above) or in the case the "prosthesis" is fixed during a time in which the patient can grow.
To better explain what I mean I created this drawing, sorry if it's a bit creepy and unprofessional but I do not have a graphics tablet to draw on, so I had to adapt :'). I hope it is clear what is the purpose. If it doesn't or it's too ugly, comment it and I'll try to make a better one.
As you can see, the Red silhouette represents sort of a "weak chin". (to be clear and honest, I don't exactly know if it is exactly the skull-level cause of the weak chin. And I'm not completely sure it's the right term for it.) and the Blue one should represent an underdeveloped mandible. I tried googling weak chin skull but found no representation so I tried guessing it by the exterior appearance. As you can see (or at least I hope) the black part represents the "prosthesis", which would have the shape of the 3D labeled draw (sorry again for the ugliness), so quite like a denture? (sorta).
Anyway, I couldn't find much more from trustable and reliable sources, but it's to say that English isn't my main language, so maybe I'm not using the right word. I tried searching for "3D printed chin implant" as 3D printing is the technique I think would be the best to use. Or I also tried with "titanium chin implant" but I found not that big of an amount of articles or sources.
So, does anyone know if it's actually possible, and if it is, has it already been done or is it currently available?
If there is something unclear in my explainings, feel free to comment and I'll edit the question to fix it! Thanks for reading!
