Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Surgeons may choose to train and specialise in one or more of these specialised fields of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery:

• Surgical excision of tumours and subsequent rebuilding, including microvascular free tissue transfer, for head and neck cancer.
• Correction of congenital or acquired facial deformity, mostly to improve oro-facial function, but also to overcome facial disfigurement and restore quality of life.
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery includes procedures on the teeth (including implants), jaws, temporomandibular joints, salivary glands, and skin lesions on the face.
• Oral Medicine is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems affecting the cervico-facial structures.
• Craniofacial Trauma is the treatment of soft and hard tissue injuries to the face and jaw.
• Cosmetic surgery is a type of surgery used to improve facial appearance and quality of life.

On an outpatient basis, a variety of oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures are performed under local anaesthesia or conscious sedation. Pre-implant surgery, dental/facial implant insertion, impacted tooth removal, intra-oral and face soft tissue operations are among them.

More major operations, for example those for salivary gland disease, trauma, facial deformity or cancer, are carried out on an inpatient basis under general anaesthetic.

• Soft tissue injuries of the mouth, face, and neck, as well as therapy of complex craniofacial fractures.
• Head and neck cancer, tumour access deep within the complicated craniofacial structure, and tumour ablation, involving neck dissections
• Microvascular free tissue transfer is part of reconstructive surgery.
• Correction of facial disproportion by orthognathic surgery.
• Pre-implant surgery, which may include the use of implants to hold face or dental prostheses in place, as well as associated bone grafting techniques as part of oro-facial reconstruction.
• Impacted teeth and complex hidden dental roots are removed.
• Cysts and tumours of the jaws are removed.
• Cleft lip and palate surgery, as well as other congenital facial defects, require both primary and secondary surgery.
• Salivary gland lesions, both benign and malignant, are treated.
• Reconstruction and removal of complicated face skin tumours.
• Face lifts, eyelid and brow surgery, and rhinoplasties are all examples of cosmetic surgery.
• Surgery on the temporomandibular joint.