Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a term that is no longer used in dentists or oral surgeons. Technically speaking, maxillofacial surgery is a specialization in dentistry that focuses on the oral cavity, jaw and neck. This is a highly specialized area, and the relationship between your dentist and your maxillofacial surgeon may be similar to the relationship between your family doctor and your radiologist or cardiologist.
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are trained in many methods, but they all affect a very specific part of their body.
Most dental surgeons attend a dental school, like any other dentist, and then visit an additional place of residence for surgical and practical purposes, just as a cardiologist begins his career with a semester of residency at the Emergency Hospital. And, as a cardiologist or radiologist, the maxillofacial surgeon must learn the exact methods of many complex and complicated operations that involve important nerves that cross the face.
Initially, the nerves of the face are incredibly difficult to recognize, and in order to perform an operation on these nerves without damaging them, it takes years of practice and a skillful and strong hand. These nerves perform various facial movements, including wrinkles on the forehead, showing teeth, frowning, closing and opening eyes, pursing lips and swelling of the cheeks, and much more. Basically, these nerves can affect every movement of your face, and every movement can be altered by maxillofacial surgery.
In most cases of oral surgery, your local dentist will refer you to a specialist, such as Wayne Thorpe, to remove wisdom teeth, treat facial pains, correct bites and deformities of the jaw, and much more. The most popular reason for visiting a maxilofacial Madrid surgeon is a common case of removing a wisdom tooth. Most adults will have to go through this operation at some point in their lives.
But oral surgeons also specialize in reconstructive surgery of the jaw area, so sometimes, after a serious accident that causes facial injuries, a family doctor or dentist may refer you to the maxillofacial surgeon. And thanks to the surgeon’s extensive knowledge of facial nerves, in many cases they can also repair damaged nerves after an accident.
Reconstructive surgery may also mean helping a patient after he has been diagnosed with cancer or another type of tumor surrounding the face. Your maxillofacial surgeon can work with your cancer specialist to remove damaged tissue and repair damaged nerves after a cancer removal operation.
Summary
Most people believe that their maxillofacial surgeon or the oral surgeon is the type that removes the wisdom teeth, but in reality these specialists have much more in their sleeve than the removal of wisdom teeth. They can literally change a person’s life with the help of reconstructive surgery or relieve the patient of chronic pain by repairing the facial nerve damage.
