The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s School of Dentistry performed a complex double-jaw subperiosteal implant surgery that helped a 65-year-old oral cancer survivor regain the ability to chew, the medical center said.
Herbert Griffith of Laurel lost most of his teeth after a 2022 oral cancer diagnosis and radiation treatment, his sister, Beverly Cole, said. Radiation damaged healthy bone, leaving too little jawbone to support traditional dental implants, Cole said.
Doctors used advanced scans and worked with a medical technology company to 3D-print a titanium-alloy scaffold that sits on top of the remaining jawbone, Dr. Ignacio Velasco, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the medical school, said. After confirming the scaffold’s fit, plastic and oral surgeons mount a full set of teeth, often in the same day, Velasco said. He said the dental school is the only in-state center that performs the procedure and is among a handful nationwide with the necessary infrastructure and multidisciplinary teams.
Dr. Pasha Shakoori, a plastic surgeon who specializes in facial reconstruction at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the operation is complex and requires coordination among dentists, oral surgeons and ear, nose and throat specialists. Shakoori said double-jaw cases are more difficult because the lower jaw moves, while the upper jaw is fixed to the skull. The medical center said its dentistry team began offering single-jaw subperiosteal implants in 2025 and completed its first double-jaw case in February 2026.
Cole described a difficult medical journey for her brother, including an initial misdiagnosis and later reconstructive surgery that used skin and bone from his leg before surgeons could place the titanium scaffold. A temporary plastic scaffold also broke during recovery, requiring another multi-hour operation, Cole said. Griffith said he remained positive. “They’re going well enough,” he told reporters, and his sister said he recently chewed and swallowed a slice of apple tart.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
