Oral and maxillofacial surgery is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. It is a recognized international surgical specialty and it is one of the nine specialties of dentistry.
An oral and maxillofacial surgeon such as Dr. Alejandro Monterrubio is a regional specialist surgeon treating the entire craniomaxillofacial complex: anatomical area of the mouth, jaws, face, skull, as well as associated structures.
Oral & maxillofacial surgery is universally recognized as a one of the nine specialties of dentistry.
Surgical procedures
The treatments that may be performed on the craniomaxillofacial complex are: mouth, jaws, neck, face, skull, and include:
- Dentoalveolar surgery (surgery to remove impacted teeth, difficult tooth extractions, extractions on medically compromised patients, bone grafting or preprosthetic surgery to provide better anatomy for the placement of implants, dentures, or other dental prostheses)
- Diagnosis and treatment of benign pathology (cysts, tumors etc.)
- Diagnosis and treatment (ablative and reconstructive surgery, microsurgery) of malignant pathology (oral & head and neck cancer).
- Diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous malignancy (skin cancer), lip reconstruction
- Diagnosis and treatment of congenital craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate and cranial vault malformations such as craniosynostosis, (craniofacial surgery)
- Diagnosis and treatment of chronic facial pain disorders
- Diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
- Diagnosis and treatment of dysgnathia (incorrect bite), and orthognathic (literally "straight bite") reconstructive surgery, orthognathic surgery, maxillomandibular advancement, surgical correction of facial asymmetry.
- Diagnosis and treatment of soft and hard tissue trauma of the oral and maxillofacial region (jaw fractures, cheek bone fractures, nasal fractures, LeFort fracture, skull fractures and eye socket fractures).
- Splint and surgical treatment of sleep apnea, maxillomandibular advancement, genioplasty (in conjunction with sleep labs or physicians)
- Surgery to insert osseointegrated (bone fused) dental implants and Maxillofacial implants for attaching craniofacial prostheses and bone anchored hearing aids.
