Oral and maxillofacial surgery

Abstract

Abstract Oral and facial surgery has been practised in some form for millennia. Hippocrates himself has described reducing jaw dislocations, and Sushtra was performing reconstructive local facial flaps in India as early as sixth century BC. The modern practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) can be traced back to the battlefields of northern Europe in the early twentieth century. Industrialized warfare produced horrific facial injuries that were treated by frontline oral surgeons, and so the specialty of OMFS, as a crossover between medicine and dentistry, developed. It became evi­dent that both medical and dental education was necessary in order to manage increasingly complex facial surgery that was being undertaken. It can be argued that OMFS has evolved to be a truly general surgical specialty, manipulating the hard and soft tissues of the head and neck and having the skills to operate on neurovascular, glandular, and airway struc­tures. There is variable exposure to OMFS during dental undergraduate education and scarce exposure during medical undergraduate training. Opportunities for postgraduate training in OMFS for dentists who are not entertaining a career in the discipline are also limited. Knowledge of the scope of OMFS practice is a bare minimum for any practising dentist, as this can inform the limits of their individual competency, as well as ensure a safe transfer of care for their patients. The questions in this section are there to target the most commonly tested and encountered aspects of OMFS for most junior dentists, focusing on oral surgery, oral pathology, management of the medically compromised patient, and trauma of the facial skeleton. OMFS is an enormously satisfying endeavour and is recommended to all junior dentists. It can form a granite-like foundation of skills upon which to build a career in clinical dentistry. Key topics include: ● Trauma ● Oral surgery and exodontia ● Oral pathology ● Orthognathic surgery ● Temporomandibular joint surgery ● Cleft lip/ palate repair ● Craniofacial surgery ● Salivary disease ● Head and neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction ● Skin cancer ● Facial aesthetics.