From L to R back row: Dr. Thaddeus Boucree, Dr. Maria Hernandez, Dr. Melissa Meincken, Dr. Rosie Roldan.
A team of doctors from Miami Children’s Hospital and Nova Southeastern University has performed surgery on two sisters born with a rare dental condition. The patients, Muriel, 12, and Nicole Rayo, 11, were born with hereditary gingival fibromatosis, a condition in which the gums become enlarged and completely encase the teeth. The surgery has offered the sisters a chance to smile for the first time in their lives.
Together, the team planned two surgeries, one for each child, to remove the overgrowth of the gum as well as some of the girls’ baby teeth which were also encased in the gums. The surgeries proved to be a success and both sisters were back home and smiling within two days of their surgeries. “We are thankful for the collaboration of all the specialists who came together to provide these young girls with the best care possible,” said Dr. Rosie Roldan, Director of the Department of Dentistry at Miami Children’s Hospital. “Muriel and Nicole are an inspiration to us all,” she said.
The team of specialists included Dr. Rosie Roldan, Director of the Department of Dentistry and Director of the Pediatric Dentistry Residency program at MCH; Dr. Melissa Meincken, pediatric dentist and a member of the dental faculty for the pediatric residency program at MCH; Dr. Mislen Bauer, pediatric geneticist at MCH; Dr. Maria Hernandez, program director of the periodontology program at Nova Southeastern University and Dr. Thaddeus Boucree, oral and maxillofacial surgeon at MCH and Chairman of the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Department at Larkin Community Hospital.
The next phase of treatment for the sisters will include orthodontics for the next two years to help straighten their new pearly whites.