Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Can Restore Your Facial Appearance and Emotional Health After Trauma

Posted July 1, 2021

For patients who have suffered from an injury to their teeth, skin, or bones of their face, our highly trained oral and maxillofacial surgeon can safely address your facial injuries so you can once again look and feel like yourself. It is crucial because facial injuries cause not just physical but emotional trauma alike, affecting long-term mental and physical health.

Our experienced team is acutely aware that a healthy outcome depends on how your treatment restores your appearance and facial function. It means having surgery and prompt emergency care, acute treatment, long-term reconstruction, and rehabilitation to ensure optimal treatment.

Treating Facial Trauma

We can successfully diagnose and treat various types of facial and jaw injuries impacting your tissues or bones, whether from:

  • Motor-vehicle accident
  • Accidental fall
  • Dog bite
  • Bad burn
  • Sports injury
  • Domestic violence
  • Work-related injury

Using state-of-the-art technology like X-rays and computerized tomography (CT) scans, we can make the best decisions for your treatment, whether in a hospital emergency room setting or at our office operatory, to optimally treat the following:

  • Broken or missing teeth
  • Fractured cheekbone, jaw (upper jaw or lower), forehead or nose
  • Fractures to the bone surrounding your teeth
  • Fracture to the ocular or orbital (bones surrounding your eyes)
  • Jaw tumors, dislocation or injury
  • Injury to the palate
  • Obstruction in the nasal cavity or sinuses
  • Soft tissue injuries like cuts, scrapes or tissue loss

Treating Maxillofacial Injuries

Soft Tissue Injuries

Lacerations to the face (including the lips, tongue, cheeks, or gums) require careful and strategic suturing. It will help ensure the best cosmetic results and protect the facial structures (like the nerves, salivary glands, and salivary ducts). Being seen quickly for soft tissue injuries helps to ensure less scarring and minimizes the odds of infection, especially with all of the harmful oral bacteria typical in the mouth.

Bone Injuries

Bone fractures in the face can receive treatment like those in other areas of your body. It largely depends on the fracture’s location, how bad it is, how old you are and your overall health. Of course, we can’t put a cast on a facial fracture, but other techniques like wiring your jaws, stabilizing with small plates and screws boost your recovery and healing. Our ultimate goal is to restore your appearance and function while leaving a minimal footprint, so making the least amount of incisions, making them small, and locating them in a manner to minimize scarring and even hiding scars are important to us.

Tooth Injuries

Damaged teeth can be treated by bonding teeth together or treated by splinting using wire. A knocked-out tooth can be replanted if it is treated as soon as possible and protected right away by holding it in a container with milk or saltwater. It increases its survival and means you should be seen as quickly as possible by our surgeon. It also means not attempting to remove any residual debris on the tooth because those tiny bits of ligaments that anchor the lost tooth into the jawbone still need to be attached if we are to reattach the tooth. If a tooth is fractured or requires a root canal treatment, it may also mean getting a root canal or seeing a dentist for restoration. Dental implants may be needed if the tooth is not salvageable in time.

Call Today!

If you have suffered a maxillofacial injury, we are here to help! You can restore your appearance and function as our team gets to work. You deserve to look and feel your best again! Don’t hesitate to reach out with your questions or concerns.