Maxillofacial surgery is often required to treat head and neck cancers, facial disproportion, salivary gland diseases, facial pain, impacted teeth, temporomandibular joint disorders, cysts in the jaw, and everything that affects the oral mucosa. What is maxillofacial surgery? It is a distinctive surgery that requires expertise in medicine and dentistry. Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a specialty of surgeons that focuses on diagnosing and treating face, neck, jaw, and mouth diseases.

What Do Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Do?

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are trained to provide treatment for defects and facial pain. Their main objective is to enable their patients to enjoy life by removing the root cause of their facial pain. They can treat a wide range of conditions related to jaw, mouth, TMJ, head, neck, and face. Some of the conditions that they treat through surgery include:

• cleft lip
• neck cancer
• impacted wisdom teeth
• oral reconstructive surgery
• dental implants
• cancers of the head and neck
• tooth extractions

Apart from their oral and maxillofacial surgery training, these oral surgeons are also skilled in administering anesthesia and pain control. Hence, allowing patients to remain calm during surgical procedures. Overall, maxillofacial surgeons went through four years of a medical degree, with extra training to perform surgeries. A surgeon may also opt to learn further and become a specialist in his chosen medical field.

Conditions that Need Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

As mentioned, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon can treat several medical conditions. He can perform moderate oral surgery to the neck and head, depending on his specialty. Oral maxillofacial specialists can perform the following:

Oral surgery for Cleft Lip. Palate defects are prevalent among newborns. If not treated, it can have a significant impact on a person’s health and self-esteem. Maxillofacial surgeons recommend the surgery as early as possible to ensure the best results. As the child grows older, the development will look more natural and proportionate with their face.

Dental Implants Application. A maxillofacial surgeon can extract a tooth and place an implant afterward. Dental implants are placed in the jaw to keep the bone healthy and maintain good dental health. Just like other surgical procedures, dental implants have cosmetic and health benefits that patients will enjoy.

Craniofacial Surgery. Craniofacial surgery is done to correct the deformities of the skull, head, jaws, face, and related structures. The transformation allows a person to enjoy a normal life free from physical disproportion.

Cosmetic surgery. Apart from treating many conditions, an oral and maxillofacial doctor can also perform surgeries to fix cosmetic problems. If you wish to make changes to the structure of your face, you may opt to find a skilled maxillofacial surgeon to achieve your goals.

Why would you Need to See an OMS Specialist?

There are many reasons why you would need to see an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. In some instances, your dentist might recommend you to them if you have severe injuries. Depending on the degree of emergency care that you’ll need, the surgeon might recommend procedures to reverse the effects of the injuries.

Other reasons to see an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon:

• poor sleep quality
• face injury
• bone loss
• oral cancer
• neck cancer

References:

What is a Maxillofacial Surgeon? (https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-maxillofacial-surgeon)

What is Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (https://www.baoms.org.uk/patients/what_is_oral_maxillofacial_surgery.aspx)