What conditions does oral and maxillofacial surgeon treat?

Typically, oral and maxillofacial surgeons treat skull or facial deformities in children (e.g. cleft lip and/or palate), facial damage caused by injury in young adults and oral cancer or facial and neck tumours in the elderly.

Other conditions and treatments commonly performed by oral and maxillofacial surgeons include:

Facial injuries or deformities
Head and neck cancers
Facial pain
Impacted teeth
Salivary gland diseases
Mouth ulcers
Oral infections
Oral cysts
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery
Mouth cancer
Cosmetic surgery for facial enhancement

Which subspecialties are included under oral and maxillofacial surgery?

Whilst oral and maxillofacial surgery does not have specific subspecialties, you must first be qualified in both medicine and dentistry, and once you have qualified as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, you can choose to focus on specific areas. For example, craniofacial trauma, cosmetic surgery, oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, facial deformity surgery or the surgical treatment of head and neck cancers.

When should you see an oral and maxillofacial surgeon?

You would be seen by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon if you had suffered facial trauma, had a congenital facial deformity, required reconstructive surgery, needed TMJ jaw repair, had a badly misaligned jaw, needed impacted teeth removed or required head and neck cancer treatment.

Ariel Barrera Parada