'I can open my mouth and eat. I feel my lips, my nose and my mouth,' said Isabelle Dinoire. During the news conference, while one of her surgeons was speaking, she drank from a plastic cup -- a simple gesture that produced a flurry of camera flashes.

Isabelle Dinoire still appears to have trouble moving her lips. But where she once had a gaping hole from a dog mauling, Dinoire now has a face and only a surprisingly faint scar around her nose, mouth and chin where surgeons stitched on a mask of tissue from a donor.

Before the 15-hour surgery in Amiens on Nov. 27, her lipless gums and teeth were permanently exposed, and most of her nose was missing. Food dribbled from her mouth. She wore a surgical mask in public to avoid frightening people.

"Since the day of my operation, I have a face like everyone else," Dinoire said, reading from a prepared statement. She thanked the family of the donor, whose heart, liver, pancreas and kidneys were distributed to other patients.

Five More Transplants Planned

"Despite their pain and mourning, they accepted to give a second life to people in need," Dinoire said. "Thanks to them, a door to the future is opening for me and others."

The 38-year-old mother of two said she was eager to return home to her teenage daughters and find a job.

"I want to have a normal life again," she said.

Dinoire's doctors said they have asked French health authorities for permission for five more similar transplants. Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard said they wanted "to give this operation to many other people in France and in the world."

Remarkable Match

Dinoire, still hospitalized for physical therapy, said she was regaining sensation and that she was not in any pain.

"I can open my mouth and eat. I feel my lips, my nose and my mouth," she said. During the news conference, while one of her surgeons was speaking, she drank from a plastic cup -- a simple gesture that produced a flurry of camera flashes.

Dinoire's mouth appeared slightly lopsided and was usually ajar. When she laughed, she seemed unable to bring her lips together to form a full smile. She also had difficulty pronouncing letters like "b" and "p" which require pursing the lips -- a skill her doctors said will improve with time.

In terms of coloring, the match between Dinoire's own skin and the graft was remarkable, though she also appeared to be wearing foundation makeup and blusher.

Doctors showed slides of her progress, her scar growing fainter each week. Though the donor's nose had been bruised during efforts to reanimate her, the mark quickly healed after the tissue was transplanted to Isabelle, a sign the graft was successful, surgeons said.

'Totally Different'

Dinoire spoke frankly about the horrific attack in May by her pet Labrador. She said she was wrestling with personal problems at the time, had had a trying week, and "took some drugs to forget," which knocked her out.

"When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette, and I didn't understand why I couldn't hold it between my lips," she said. "That's when I saw the pool of blood and the dog next to me. I looked at myself in the mirror, and there, horrified, I couldn't believe what I saw -- especially because it didn't hurt. Ever since this day, my life has changed."

Her disfigurement would draw stares when she went outside, she said, adding: "I understand all people who have a handicap."

Dinoire said she "accepted immediately" when her surgeons suggested the transplant. But the procedure has been unable to restore the way she looked before the dog bit her.

"There's no comparison between the face I have today and the face I had seven months ago, it is totally different," she said.

Still Smoking

Her surgeons -- who have been heavily criticized for going ahead with a radical, untested procedure without trying traditional reconstruction first -- defended their decision point-by-point and said they repeatedly warned Dinoire about the risks.

Dubernard noted that Dinoire overcame an episode of rejection in the third week after the surgery and said her recent biopsies were "very satisfying."

"But as it's the first [transplant of its kind], we absolutely cannot make a prognostic for the future," Dubernard said. He added that he hoped the graft would remain healthy for at least six years -- the amount of time since he carried out the world's first double hand transplant. That patient is still very happy with his transplant: He has about 80 percent use of his hands and can eat, write and use the telephone.

Dinoire has continued smoking -- a habit Dubernard said he hoped she would break, as it can lead to complications.

"Tobacco in itself does not carry risks of rejection ... but it is a factor that can aggravate things," he said, adding that "in hiding, she smokes cigarette after cigarette."

Dubernard said he was sure she would stop in the weeks or months ahead but showed understanding. "Put yourself in her place for a second," he said. "It's extraordinarily stressful."