An independent publication on the made face
A prosthesis is a made part, not a disguise.
Likeness is a plain-language history and account of replacing parts of the face, jaw and palate with made prostheses, and of how that differs from surgery. It says what it believes. It shows its sources.
Surgery and prosthetics are two answers, not rivals.
Teams often use both on the same person, and the choice is made site by site, with the person in the room.
Read how the choice is made →The craft is older than the hospital.
Eyes, noses and palates were being replaced centuries before anyone wrote a clinical guideline, and the record is richer and messier than the legend.
Open the timeline →It is still made by hand.
Scanners and printers are arriving. The reviews say plainly that several steps remain artisanal, and that the evidence for the new tools is still thin.
See what the evidence says →Nothing lasts forever, and honest pages say so.
Silicone fades, edges tear, bones change. Remaking a prosthesis is routine care, not a verdict on anyone.
Why prostheses are remade →We cite what we open. We cut what we cannot check.
Every date, figure and name here comes from a source the editors read. Where sources disagree, the page says so.
See the method →The fifteen pages
History Where the craft came from
The craft Materials, methods, implants, color and software
- 02What a facial prosthesis is made ofSilicone, acrylic and what came before, and why every prosthesis has to be remade.
- 03How a facial prosthesis is made, step by stepImpression, wax, mold, silicone, color and fitting, step by step.
- 04Bone-anchored implants for facial prosthesesTitanium anchors in the skull: what osseointegration means and what the evidence shows.
- 05Colour matching: why skin is hard to copyWhy skin is hard to copy and why a good match does not last.
- 06Scanners, software and printers in facial prostheticsScanners, software and printers, and where the evidence runs out.
The person What it is, the choices, daily life and the nerve question
- 07What a facial prosthesis is, and what it is notA made replacement for missing tissue: who makes one and how it stays on.
- 08Prosthesis or reconstruction: two answers, not rivalsTwo answers, not rivals: what teams weigh and why the choice is shared.
- 09Living with a facial prosthesisRoutines, weather, wellbeing and the limits of the research.
- 10Care and cleaning basics for a facial prosthesisGentle cleaning, careful storage, and when to call the team.
- 11When the cause is a nerve: facial palsy and neurologistsFacial palsy, stroke warning signs, facial pain and when a neurologist is involved.