Ear Reconstruction versus Ear Prosthesis

[Daril Atkins]

Those of you who were at Paris may have witnessed the issue about the
quality of ear reconstruction versus that of prostheses. In my forty
years in this profession I have seen some gruesome examples of ear
reconstruction, and some successful ones too. To be fair, it could be
said that the quality of the surgical reconstruction would to a very
large extent depend on the extent of the surgeon's skills and
experience. So also to be fair again, many a time I have been
disappointed with my attempts at creating a perfect ear prosthesis.
Then again I have been able to achieve good results many a time. This
again points to the skill and experience of the Anaplastologist.

How objective can we get here? Can we discuss the pros and cons of
each? How many of you are satisfied with the prosthesis you make?
Sorry, turn that around and lets ask how many of our patients were
satisfied in the short and long term with our prostheses?