3D-printed implant brings woman relief after years of jaw pain

This is a series that spotlights rare diseases or unusual conditions.

- Zhaki Abdullah

Since she was in her 40s, Madam Kong Choy Foong had experienced occasional pain in her jaw, but dismissed it as it was fleeting and intermittent.

Over time, the pain became worse, and Madam Kong, now 71, would feel a sudden, sharp pain in her jaw coming at unexpected times such as when she was eating—as if her jaw had been dislocated.

"Sometimes the pain came when I was sleeping, waking me up at night," said the retired supermarket assistant.

After visits to a dentist and hospital, it was a unique treatment which helped Madam Kong get rid of the pain—her jaw joint was replaced with a customized, 3D-printed implant.

While such procedures have been performed elsewhere, she is believed to be one of the first in Singapore to receive such a treatment.

When she visited a neighborhood dentist five or six years ago, the dentist suspected that the pain was caused by teeth grinding and recommended that she wear a dental splint—an orthodontic device used to reduce excessive strain on jaw joints—on her lower jaw.

But there was no relief.

In 2020, she was referred to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for temporomandibular joint pain, referring to the joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull, and persistent limited mouth opening.