Michael Billotte – Prosthetics A Work of Art

Anaplastology is a branch of medicine dealing with the prosthetic rehabilitation of an absent, disfigured, or malformed anatomically critical location of the face or body.

Michael Billotte 65 is an anaplastologist who works from home, in his closet of his two-bedroom apartment overlooking the Hudson River in New Jersey.

After a career in the military, Michael used his veteran assistance to be trained in making anaplasia and ocular prosthetics. Michael is very proud to have talent because as he says, “The only way to learn is from each other, but this is extremely hard because many see each other as competition.”

Many of Michael’s patients are from workmen compensation, where they suffered an accident at work, but also has patients who have a deformity or serious accidents.

The demand for anaplastologist is still high even with the rise of 3d printing because of the aesthetic detail needed to match the prosthetic to a patient’s body.

Michael’s daughter and grandchildren live with him and his wife in their modest apartment; this has required Michael to make an office out of the closet in his bedroom to accommodate everyone.

Facial and ocular prosthetics can be life-changing for patients who have lost an eye, ear, or nose or sustained damage to intraoral structures. Many people with deformities avoid social situations and interactions, but thanks to anaplastologist like Michael, patients can feel more confident about the way they look.

Michael’s favorite prosthetic to work on is oculars. They take a lot of precision to detail to make a good eye.

Michael takes great joy in a profession that helps change people's lives and also has given him the ability to support his family.

Bayonne, NJ: Michael Billotte has been a practicing ocularist and anaplastologist for over 5 years. He is one of the few professionals in his specialty to provide both ocular and facial prosthetics. With 40 years as an artist, he applies his talents and experience to fitting and fabricating custom-made prosthetics. A prosthesis is an artificial substitute for a missing, disfigured, or malformed part of the face or body. Each prosthesis is custom-made for the individual patient.