What is Oral and Maxillofacial (OMF) surgery?
Oral and Maxillofacial (OMFS) surgery is a specialty of dentistry that includes the diagnosis and the surgical and adjunctive treatment of disorders, diseases, injuries and defects that involve the functional and aesthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions and structures.
To become an OMF surgeon, a dentist must successfully complete a post-graduate hospital-based residency of a minimum duration of four years. The surgical expertise and thorough understanding of the aesthetics and function of the mouth, teeth, jaws and face enable the OMF surgeon to diagnose, treat and manage several conditions, diseases, defects and injuries.
OMF education and training covers areas such as general surgery, emergency care, intensive care, internal medicine, pathology, anaesthesia and plastic surgery.
Your dentist or family physician will refer you to an OMF surgeon when complaints of pain or dysfunction in the mouth and facial region require his or her expertise. Some procedures are can be performed with local anaesthesia in an office setting, others require day surgery or hospitalization. OMF surgeons are also often called upon for emergency treatment.
You should know that OMF surgeons are qualified to do preventive, reconstructive and emergency care on teeth, mouth, jaws and related facial structures.
In fact many of our members have advanced degrees in subspecialty areas.