Restoring Function, Confidence and Hope

Designs on Aging-Ready

By Dan Ayer

The University of Pittsburgh has a rich history of breakthroughs and surgeries that transform the face of health care.

Now, thanks to Banu Karayazgan, Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine is a leader in the restoration of actual faces.

After 15 years treating patients in her home country of Turkey, Karayazgan, professor of prosthodontics, is now directing Pitt Dental Medicine’s Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthodontics Services located in UPMC Montefiore. Her work focuses on patients who have lost portions of their face or jaw due to cancer, trauma or congenital conditions—people facing challenges most of us never consider until they're suddenly, devastatingly real.

"When part of the upper jaw is removed, a patient cannot eat because food escapes into the nasal cavity and the patient often cannot speak clearly," Karayazgan explains.

Through highly specialized prosthetics called obturators, she helps restore these fundamental abilities. Patients can eat a meal again. Speak to loved ones. And they can look in the mirror and see themselves, rather than what they had previously lost.

The results are life changing.

Patients may be able to enjoy a meal or hold a conversation again, often within hours of receiving care.

“Regaining the ability to speak clearly, smile without self-consciousness, or simply drink water without fear—that changes everything,” she says.

Restoration goes far beyond physical function. Karayazgan knows that she is returning confidence and a sense of self to each patient she treats. “When someone looks in the mirror for the first time with their facial prosthesis and sees themselves again rather than only a defect, it is an incredibly emotional moment."​​

It requires a unique combination of skills to create moments like that. Each facial prosthetic piece is handcrafted, colored, painted, formed and fit to a specific person. “When we do it right, it’s invisible,” says Mark Goetz, maxillofacial prosthetics technician at Pitt School of Dental Medicine.

Goetz brings an artistic touch to the work. He grew up sculpting, painting, and otherwise assisting his uncle, a famous artist widely known for his wax works and sculptures. Thanks to an incredible partnership with Karayazgan, he now uses those same skills he honed as a youth to change people’s lives.

Many patients require surgery that alters their appearance in some way. Some patients lose an ear, eye or nose. Goetz’s artistic skills with making impressions, molding and sculpting help create a prosthesis that, when worn, looks almost like the surgery never happened.

“We fitted one patient with a complicated orbital piece that involved many materials. She looked at herself in the mirror for the first time, paused, and said, ‘I’m human again.’ I’ll never forget that,” says Goetz.

Getting a perfect fit like that can be challenging. Depending on the prosthesis, Goetz will go through several rounds of coloring and shading to create a perfect match. If there are pieces of hair or eyebrow involved, he’ll add those too—one by one until it looks as invisible as possible.

His partnership with Karayazgan creates a rare combination of skills that the University is looking to replicate. Giving patients back their dignity and confidence requires deeply specialized and coordinated work.

When offered the opportunity to direct Pitt Dental Medicine’s Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthodontics Services, Karayazgan saw a space where she could help shape patient outcomes and educate future specialists.

“Pitt stood out because of its strong multidisciplinary culture,” she explains. “Here, we work hand-in-hand with surgeons, oncologists, radiation specialists, speech therapists—everyone who plays a role in a patient’s recovery. That level of collaboration is essential to this field, ensuring patients receive seamless care from surgery through rehabilitation.”

Pitt also offers something vital to this kind of work—the opportunity to integrate the most advanced technologies to deliver more precise care.

The clinic integrates digital facial and intraoral scanning, virtual surgical planning, and 3D printing and milling. This digital workflow increases precision, reduces treatment time and creates new possibilities for personalized care. “Students and residents will be prepared not only to practice today but to lead the field into the future,” she says.

Now she’s taking up an even greater restoration to further strengthen opportunities for students. Karayazgan is working to reopen Pitt's fellowship program in collaboration with newly added maxillofacial prosthodontists. This advanced training will allow prosthodontic graduates to gain specialized expertise and carry Pitt's standards into communities around the world. Her vision is clear—establish Pittsburgh as a global center of excellence for maxillofacial prosthodontics.

The plan is ambitious but aligns with the University’s goal of providing health care that combines cutting-edge technology with profound human compassion. It's about more than restoring smiles or speech. It's about restoring hope.

Karayazgan’s work is highly specialized and resource intensive. "Every donation, every partnership, every recognition allows us to treat more patients, expand our services and train future experts," she says. While the effect may be immeasurable, the need for resources is very real.

But thanks to the work of the clinic and Karayazgan, the opportunity to return functionality and humanity to patients is yet another breakthrough for Pitt to smile about.

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