Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the oral cavity, head and neck, mouthand jaws, as well as facial cosmetic surgery. Contemporary training in both medicine and dentistry enables oral & maxillofacial surgeons to treat conditions requiring expertise in both fields. These include a range of common oral surgical problems (eg. impacted teeth, dental implants), jaw and congenital facial disproportion, facial trauma, oral cancer, salivary gland disease, temporal-mandibular joint disorders, and various benign pathologies (eg. cysts and tumors of the jaws).

Patients are referred to an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon by both general and specialist dental and medical practitioners. In many instances, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons work in collaboration with other specialists such as orthodontists, ENT surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons and oncologists as part of multidisciplinary teams to optimise the treatment of major conditions and diseases of the mouth, faces and jaws.

Major complex surgery in OMFS is often collaborative. It includes

• cranio-facial surgery for congenital problems
• cancer and injuries involving the skull base (working with neurosurgeons)
• facial surgery for cancer (working with oncologists, ENT surgeons, and dental specialists)
• skin cancer surgery (working with dermatologists)

Procedures undertaken by oral and maxillofacial surgeons include

• surgical treatment of facial injuries – complex cranio-facial fractures, fractures of the lower jaw, upper jaw, cheekbone, nose, and orbit (sometimes all of these together) and soft tissue injuries of the mouth, face and neck
• removal of head and neck benign and malignant tumors
• reconstructive surgery – including micro-vascular free tissue transfer
• removal of impacted teeth and complex buried dental roots
• removal of jaw tumors and cysts
• cosmetic surgery such as face lifts, eyelid and brow surgery and correction and reconstruction of the nose (rhinoplasty)
• temporomandibular (jaw) joint surgery
• salivary gland surgery – for benign and malignant lesions
• surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate and other congenital facial deformities
• surgery of skin lesions of the head and neck

The main sub-specialties within oral and maxillofacial surgery are

• head and neck cancer – removal of tumors and reconstruction
• craniofacial deformity and orthognathic surgery – the correction of jaw disproportion
• salivary gland surgery including using minimally invasive techniques to remove stones from ducts
• cleft lip and palate surgery
• oral medicine – diagnosis and treatment of conditions in and around the cervico-facial structures
• dentoalveolar surgery – treatment of teeth (including implants)
• trauma – treatment of facial soft and hard tissue injuries of the craniofacial structures
• aesthetic facial surgery
• jaw joint problems
• facial skin surgery including removing facial cancers and tumors.