A college student in the United States has shared her incredible journey on social media about recovering from a devastating diagnosis. When she was 20, Lillian Roman was told by a dentist that she had idiopathic condylar resorption (ICR), a condition in which the body absorbs bone tissue in the jaw. In a year, her condition turned so severe that Ms Roman could no longer eat solid food, was malnourished, in constant pain and even suffered from breathing issues, according to Newsweek.
In a GoFundMe page she set up, Ms Roman described the condition's progression in seven years - a severely uneven bite, with only one tooth making contact while biting down, continually changing nerve, joint and muscle pain, and emotional distress from losing basic functionality at a very young age.
She also saw the disease altering her face through asymmetrical joint degeneration and recession of her lower jaw.
The only option Ms Roman had was to undergo an excruciating seven-and-a-half-hour-long operation, in which surgeons separated her top jaw from the bottom, repositioned it, and replaced the joints with titanium prosthetics.
Ms Roman, now 22, is happy that she decide to undergo the surgery and can finally smile. She posted a video on Instagram to celebrate the first anniversary of the $100,000 surgery that brought her smile back.
"I realised that if I couldn't find somebody to fix it soon, I would live the rest of my life in agonising pain, unable to breathe, and rapidly losing weight," she told Newsweek.
What Is Idiopathic Condylar Resorption?
According to US government's National Library of Medicine, ICR is a condition that is often esthetically and functionally altering, characterised by the breakdown and loss of bone in part of your temporomandibular joints or jaw joints. It is also referred to as idiopathic condylysis, condylar atrophy, aggressive condylar resorption, acquired condylar hypoplasia, progressive condylar resorption, and cheerleader syndrome.
The condition has no known cause and manifests as progressive malocclusion, esthetic changes, and often pain.
