A total knee replacement is really a total knee resurfacing. In this surgery, we move the knee cap over to the side and remove bone and cartilage from the top bone (Femur) and we cap the end of the bone just like we cap teeth. We do the same to the bottom bone (Tibia). We remove bone and cartilage and cap it with a tibia component (shown in the picture to the right) and we place a space age insert into the tibia component. The third compartment of the knee (the knee cap) is addressed by removing some bone and cartilage from the under surface and cap it with a space age plastic.