Member Information
Get Connected
Reading/Career
Search by Category
 Dentist Specialty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Find a Local Dentist

Oral and maxillofacial surgery

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. It is a recognized international surgical specialty.

Regulations

  • In the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, oral and maxillofacial surgery is one of the 9 specialties recognized by the American Dental Association, Royal College of Dentists of Canada, and Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, however some training programs lead to the trainee obtaining qualifications in both Medicine and Dentistry.


In other parts of the world oral and maxillofacial surgery as a specialty exists but under different forms as the work is sometimes performed by a single or dual qualified specialist depending on each country's regulations and training opportunities available.

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons

An oral and maxillofacial surgeon is a regional specialist surgeon treating the entire craniomaxillofacial complex: anatomical area of the mouth, jaws, face, skull, as well as associated structures.

Maxillofacial surgeons are usually initially qualified in dentistry and have undergone further surgical training. Some OMS residencies integrate a medical education as well & an appropriate degree in medicine (MBBS or MD or equivalent) is earned, although in the United States there is legally no difference in what a dual degree OMFS can do compared to someone who earned a four year certificate. Oral & maxillofacial surgery is universally recognized as a one of the nine specialties of dentistry. However also in the UK and many other countries OMFS is a medical specialty as well culminating in the FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons). Regardless, all oral & maxillofacial surgeons must obtain a degree in dentistry (BDS, BDent, DDS, or DMD or equivalent) before being allowed to begin residency training in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

They also may choose to undergo further training in a 1 or 2 year subspecialty fellowship training in the following areas:

  • Head and neck cancer - microvascular reconstruction
  • Cosmetic facial surgery
  • Craniofacial surgery/Pediatric Maxillofacial surgery
  • Cranio-maxillofacial trauma

The popularity of oral and maxillofacial surgery as a career for persons whose first degree was medicine, not dentistry, seems to be increasing. Integrated programs are becoming more available to medical graduates allowing them to complete the dental degree requirement in about 3 years in order for them to advance to subsequently complete Oral and Maxillofacial surgical training.

Surgical procedures

Treatments may be performed on the craniomaxillofacial complex: mouth, jaws, neck, face, skull, and include:

  • Dentoalveolar surgery (surgery to remove impacted teeth, difficult tooth extractions, extractions on medically compromised patients, bone grafting or preprosthetic surgery to provide better anatomy for the placement of implants, dentures, or other dental prostheses)
  • Diagnosis and treatment of benign pathology (cysts, tumors etc.)
  • Diagnosis and treatment (ablative and reconstructive surgery, microsurgery) of malignant pathology (oral & head and neck cancer).
  • Diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous malignancy (skin cancer), lip reconstruction
  • Diagnosis and treatment of congenital craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate and cranial vault malformations such as craniosynostosis, (craniofacial surgery)
  • Diagnosis and treatment of chronic facial pain disorders
  • Diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
  • Diagnosis and treatment of dysgnathia (incorrect bite), and orthognathic (literally "straight bite") reconstructive surgery, orthognathic surgery, maxillomandibular advancement, surgical correction of facial asymmetry.
  • Diagnosis and treatment of soft and hard tissue trauma of the oral and maxillofacial region (jaw fractures, cheek bone fractures, nasal fractures, LeFort fracture, skull fractures and eye socket fractures.
  • Splint and surgical treatment of sleep apnea, maxillomandibular advancement, genioplasty (in conjunction with sleep labs or physicians)
  • Surgery to insert osseointegrated (bone fused) dental implants and Maxillofacial implants for attaching craniofacial prostheses and bone anchored hearing aids.
  • Cosmetic surgery limited to the head and neck: (rhytidectomy/facelift, browlift, blepharoplasty/Asian blepharoplasty, otoplasty, rhinoplasty, septoplasty, cheek augmentation, chin augmentation, genioplasty, oculoplastics, neck liposuction, lip enhancement, injectable cosmetic treatments, botox, chemical peel etc.)

All text of this article available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).


 Click on a state below to search Dentists by state
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
 
More information...
Dental fear
Dental fear refers to the fear of dentistry and of receiving dental care. A pathological form of this fear (specific phobia) is variously called dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia...
Endodontic therapy
Endodontic therapy is a sequence of treatment for the pulp of a tooth whose end result is the elimination of infection and protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion...
Dental extraction
A dental extraction (also referred to as exodontia) is the removal of a tooth from the mouth. Extractions are performed for a wide variety of reasons,...
Dental Braces
Dental braces (also known as orthodontic braces) are a device used in orthodontics to align teeth and their position with regard to a person's bite...
Oral and maxillofacial surgery
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region....
Orthodontics
Orthodontics is a specialty of dentistry that is concerned with the study and treatment of malocclusions (improper bites), which may be a result of tooth irregularity...
Pedodontics
Pedodontics (also spelt Paedodontics) (or also known as Pediatric/Paediatric dentistry) is the branch of dentistry dealing with children from birth through adolescence...
Endodontics
Endodontics, from the Greek endo (inside) and odons (tooth), is a one of the nine specialties of dentistry recognized by the American Dental Association...
Dentist Specialities
In addition to general dentistry, there are about 9 recognized dental specialties in the US, Canada, and Australia. To become a specialist requires one to train in a residency or advanced graduate...
Dentistry
Dentistry is the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures.....

Site Map | RSS Feeds | Articles | Jobs | Links | All Members | Popular Searches | Popular Questions