What is a Prosthetic Face?

A prosthetic face serves a function similar to any other prosthetic device: to replace a missing or damaged body part with an artificial substitute for either functional or cosmetic purposes. Prosthetic faces are custom manufactured from a variety of materials depending on the purpose of the prosthetic and the frequency of its use. In many cases, a prosthetic face is used to conceal a facial deformity resulting from either a birth defect or an injury. Prosthetic faces are also important elements in the special effects industry, finding use in both film and theater.

In medical applications, prosthetic faces can conceal the results of a serious injury or a deformity — such as scarring from severe burns or missing facial sections — that cannot be corrected with cosmetic surgery. This type of prosthetic face can be attached to the wearer with adhesives, though the frequency and duration of wear means they are often designed to be held in place by surgically implanted attachment devices or magnets. Medical prosthetic faces are not generally considered to be solely cosmetic. They replace missing facial attributes, allow their wearers to more favorably interact with society, and contribute significantly to the emotional well-being of the patient. In many cases, a prosthetic face is a patient’s only choice when desiring meaningful and undistracted interaction with other people.

The entertainment industry frequently uses prosthetic faces to make actors appear older, younger or someone else altogether. They are also used to simulate injuries or other changes in an actor’s appearance that might occur to a character over the time a story spans. These types of prosthetic faces are often made from a cast of the actor’s face and then adjusted, textured and painted to match the actor’s skin tone as much as possible. Once completed, the prosthetic face is applied to the actor’s face with adhesives and the edges are feathered out and blended to hide them. In this way, prosthetic faces allow actors to appear to be nearly anyone or anything from historical figures to creatures from another planet.

Prosthetic faces are not the same thing as masks. In the strictest terms, masks hide a person’s identity or present it in such a way that it is understood that the person serves as a representation or an avatar of someone or something else. In medical applications, a prosthetic face is designed with the intention of restoring a person’s actual identity. In theater and film use, prosthetic faces are intended to change a person’s identity in such a way that he is not seen as a representation but as an actual incarnation of someone or something else.