The lower jaw is considered a long bone like the femur. When a leg bone is too short relative to its counterpart it can be lengthened surgically.
As with the leg bones, to extend the lower jaw, a cut is made perpendicular to the bone on one side, but not through the middle of the bone. The marrow, nerve bundles, and blood vessels remain uncut. The cut is extended along the length of the bone on top and bottom. A final perpendicular cut is made along the opposite side of the bone. In this way the rigid parts of the bone can be un-telescoped lengthwise, leaving the middle of the bone tissue intact, but elongated. (We all need to be stretched, don’t we?) It’s similar to sliding a drawer out.
With the jaw, this procedure is done on both sides.
Once the proper length is achieved, the rigid pieces are anchored in place to heal and the gaps fill in with new bone.
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