Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Operations on the mouth, jaws and facial structures. In practice that means deeply impacted wisdom teeth, jaw cysts and tumours, facial injuries, jaw joint problems, and corrective jaw surgery to change how the bite and the face fit together. It is a hospital specialty, not a general dental practice one.

Because these procedures need imaging, anaesthesia and sometimes several surgeons working together. Complex cases are planned from CT scans, and the surgery happens in a Grade 3A hospital''s oral and maxillofacial department. A high-street dental clinic is not equipped for the complications that can arise in jaw surgery.

It varies with the procedure. A straightforward surgical extraction is back to normal within days; a jaw cyst resection or corrective jaw operation involves weeks of recovery and a liquid diet, and corrective jaw surgery is commonly followed by a period of orthodontic treatment. Ask what the specific procedure entails before you commit to travel dates.

These need imaging and often a biopsy before any definitive treatment. Benign cysts in particular are common in the jaw and are usually removed, sometimes with the tooth involved. A referral letter and any earlier scans are worth bringing, and the hospital will want to plan from its own imaging rather than another clinic''s.

It is a planned procedure rather than an emergency, which is unusual in this field and makes it possible to schedule around travel. It is a long course: pre-treatment orthodontics, the operation itself, a recovery period, and post-operative orthodontics. Arrange the orthodontics and the surgery with the same team, and be clear in advance about which trips are essential.