Specialist in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

What is the maxillofacial region?

"Jaw" refers to the part of the jawbone, and "face" refers to the face. The treatment scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery is the neck and the areas above the neck, namely the neck, head, cheeks, mandible and mouth. Oral and maxillofacial surgery specializes in treating trauma or disease of soft and hard tissues in these areas with drugs and surgery.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery treatments include:

Complex tooth extraction
Surgical removal of wisdom teeth and impacted teeth
Bone grafting procedures related to dental implants and dental implants
Sinus lift surgery
Temporomandibular joint (temporomandibular joint) treatment
Rabbit cleft lip and palate
Treatment and reconstruction of maxillofacial trauma or fractures
Jaw orthopedic surgery
Removal of oral tumors, jaw bone hygromas, and benign tumors; laboratory testing and removal of tissue hyperplasia

Simply put, as long as the trauma involves facial bones or muscles, it is generally recommended to seek treatment from a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The head is divided into bones, face, brain and ear, nose and throat system, and different specialists perform their respective duties. However, the maxillofacial scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery sometimes overlaps with that of other specialties. For example, the scope of maxillofacial trauma surgery and plastic surgery are similar, but the former focuses more on the treatment of skeletal trauma, while the latter specializes in the suturing and restoration of muscle trauma. These two types of specialists will cooperate and divide work according to the patient's condition to provide the patient with the most appropriate treatment.

The following are common conditions treated by oral and maxillofacial surgery specialists:

1. Accidental Tooth Loss

Treatment method: If a tooth falls out or flies off unexpectedly, you should stay calm and pick it up (when touching the tooth, only touch the crown and try to avoid touching the root to prevent contamination of the root.) There will be living cells on the surface of the tooth foot, so please keep the tooth moist and clean to have a chance to reconnect with the tooth bone. Never wipe or wrap your teeth with paper towels, otherwise the paper towels will absorb the moisture and accelerate cell dehydration and death.

Finally, it is recommended to put the teeth in normal saline or milk, because the osmotic pressure and pH of these two liquids are closer to the oral environment: adults can put the teeth back to their original position in the mouth, while children's teeth can be placed in normal saline or milk to prevent them from accidentally swallowing the teeth and seek treatment from a dentist within an hour.

2. Alveolar bone fracture

The main cause of alveolar bone fracture is external impact or serious fall. The general treatment method is to perform early reduction of the fracture site and use wire arch ligation and fixation.

3. Sleep apnea

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons will create oral appliances for people with sleep apnea, which move the jaw forward to help open the blocked airway. If surgery is required, a specialist will reposition the patient's jawbone to expand the space behind the tongue and relieve airway obstruction.