Whitney Zoller, age 9, of Sarasota, Fla., for his question:
WHAT IS PLASTIC SURGERY?
It is necessary for a plastic surgeon to hold a longer surgical residency than that served by many other medical specialists. In the United States, all plastic surgeons must be certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. To receive this certification, a plastic surgeon must complete an approved three year residence in general surgery and an additional two years in plastic surgery. He must then pass an extremely difficult examination.
A plastic surgeon is a medical doctor who specializes in the treatment of certain physical deformities. These deformities may be either the result of serious injury or disease or may have been present at birth and called congenital deformities.
Living tissue is transplanted by a plastic surgeon to a deformed part of the body. By transplanting this tissue, the surgeon tries to restore the normal function and improve the appearance of the deformed part.
A plastic surgeon must often use a substance called silicone. The word plastic comes from the Greek work meaning to mold or to shape. Reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery are the two branches of plastic surgery.
Reconstructive surgery attempts to repair deformed body parts or tissues that do not function normally. Skin grafts may be used which involve transplanting the skin tissue from nearby parts of the body to other parts. The doctor must also graft bone, cartilage and muscle tissue when it is necessary. Grafting is often used to treat automobile crash injuries, gunshot wounds, severe burns and similar cases.
Reconstruction surgery is also used to treat such congenital deformities as cleft lip and cleft palate and similar deformities of the face, ears or hands.
Cosmetic surgery attempts to improve the appearance of aging tissue or unattractive body parts. A face lift operation, for example, can give a patient a more youthful appearance.
Mrs. Betty Ford, the former First Lady, recently proudly announced that she had undergone a face lift type of cosmetic surgery. In most face lift operations a plastic surgeon will simply remove excess or aged facial skin.
Cosmetic surgery is also used to change the shape of a nose. If a person has a deformed nose or believes his nose is unattractive, he can have an operation that will often improve his appearance.
In addition to the face, cosmetic surgery can reshape such parts of the body as the abdomen, breasts and thighs.