A Chinese girl suffering from a "sunken face" is recovering well after a plastic surgery and is expected to leave hospital in 10 days, doctors said on Monday.

The girl, named Wang Na, underwent recovery surgery for sunken congenital cheekbones and an upper jaw deficit on Sept. 5 in the stomatological hospital attached to the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The doctors revealed the patient's situation when over 70 stomatologists and surgeons from 23 countries, in Xi'an for a medical conference, came to to see the 18-year-old girl.

Surgeons said that the surgery was a world first.

Currently Wang is wearing a traction frame on her head. Though the girl still has difficulty turning her head, she is in a buoyant mood.

Wang is recovering well and is in good spirits, said Liu Yanpu, the surgeon in charge.

"The only problem is she cannot eat by herself because of the frame," the doctor said.

Liu said the traction started six days ago and they have already completed five millimeters. The doctor planned to complete the remaining traction in the next five to 10 days and he said that if everything goes smoothly, Wang will leave hospital in about 10 days.

The doctor said Wang will then have completed the first phase of the plastic surgery. He said the second phase will start in two to three months and the final period will be completed in about eight months' time.

"If the surgery is successful, the girl's face will look almost like that of a normal person," Liu said.

Abandoned by her parents, the girl - who has never been to school - was raised by a poverty-stricken couple in the county of Heyang, Shaanxi Province.

Wang's surgery will cost 200,000 yuan (about 25,000 U.S. dollars). The hospital has already started to raise money for the girl.