A San Francisco pooch is ready to show off his new jawbone today thanks to University of California at Davis biomedical engineers and veterinary surgeons.
Whiskey, an 80-pound Munsterlander dog native to the Bay Area, will be at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Companion Animal Health on campus at 11 a.m. where he will chew on doggie treats provided by his owner to display his strong jaw line that was reconstructed after he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor that invaded his jaw.
Engineers and surgeons at UC Davis helped Whiskey become one of eight dogs that have received newly grown jawbones after facing jaw removal, with no other medical options to maintain normal jaw function.
Whiskey was going to have to remove a section of his lower left jawbone.
UC Davis researchers found a way to re-grow missing sections of jawbone using special titanium plates and screws, along with a matrix of bone growth-promoting proteins and scaffolding material to support the bone.
The reconstructive process is still experimental, however Whiskey is faring well and will arrive in Davis from San Francisco to show he can use his jawbone, with university surgeons and biomedical engineers on hand to explain the biomedical discovery that saved the dog’s chops.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
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