A Brand New Smile

Sometimes there is nothing more you can do than marvel at the miracles of modern science. Last week, a 43-year-old man received Spain's first facial transplant — a procedure that has only been completed on eight other occasions.

The recipient lost his face over 10 years ago to radiation treatment for an advance-stage tumor. According to the AFP, his surgeon, Pedro Cavadas, says the man's only hope was a transplant. "Today he can swallow, speak clearly and recover the sense of taste," Cavadas said. "To put it simply, he has regained human dignity."

Unfortunately, it has not come without controversy. A local newspaper Levante-EMV described the donor as a man from "Spain's Canary Islands and had suffered a serious facial injury."

But this breach in confidence will not go in vain. Only days after the 15-hour surgery, Cavadas feels hopeful about the procedure, and when the man with the new face saw himself in the mirror, he smiled.

Photo courtesy of piccadillywilson, via Creative Commons and Flickr