Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral and maxillofacial surgery (aka OMF) is a dental branch specializing in the surgical treatment of oral (mouth) and maxillofacial (jaws and face) region-related diseases and/or traumas. Surgeons or dentists treat patients of all ages, from newborns to elderly people, covering a wide variety of conditions.
Surgical procedures include:
Dentoalveolar surgery - a procedure performed in conditions such as: impacted teeth that require problematic tooth extractions, bone grafting or preprosthetic surgery before implant or any other dental placements.
Corrective jaw surgery (orthognathic surgery) - a surgical procedure performed to correct a series of facial skeletal and dental irregularities. It aims to improve breathing, chewing, and speaking abilities affected by irregularities. The doctor may resort to surgery when these problems can’t be treated with orthodontic appliances. Correction of most common dentofacial deformities:
- Open bite - the surgeon removes a horizontal part of the upper jaw and then secures it with screws. This way the upper jaw is aligned over the lower one in a correct and balanced position;
- Underbite (protruding lower jaw) - the surgeon separates the bone in the rear from the front part of the jaw, and then modifies it to correct the patient’s misalignment;
- Receding lower jaw or “weak chin” - the surgeon separates the bone in the lower portion of the jaw from its base and repositions it by moving it forward and securing it with screws.
- Head and neck cosmetic surgery – includes facelift, brow lift, rhinoplasty, septoplasty, cheek/chin augmentation, otoplasty, blepharoplasty, oculoplastics, neck liposuction, lip enhancement, injectable cosmetic procedures, etc.
Diagnostics and treatment of other maxillofacial region pathology:
- Benign cysts or tumors of the head and neck
- Malignant tumors of the head and neck
- Reconstructive surgery and microvascular surgery (usually after the removal of tumors)
- Congenital craniofacial malformations such as:
- Cleft lip - an opening in the upper lip that may be extended into the nose
- Cleft palate - an opening of the roof of the mouth into the nose
- Cleft lip and palate together
- Craniosynostosis - the premature fusion and ossification of one or more of the fibrous sutures of the infant skull, which doesn’t allow it to expand in a normal direction
- Chronic facial pain disorders (trigeminal neuralgia)
- Temporomandibular joint disorders - dysfunction of the mastication muscles and the temporomandibular joints
- Trauma of the soft and hard tissue of the oral and maxillofacial region (cheekbone fracture, nasal fracture, jaw fracture, skull fracture)
If you're looking into Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, review the Dental Treatment Packages available from clinics listed on our platform.
Our articles on Wisdom Tooth Extraction and Tooth Extraction offer more insights into surgical dental procedures.