Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

• Cleft lip and palate is an abnormal condition due to incomplete fusion of facial tissues during foetal development inside the mother. It is a gap present in the lip or the palate or both lip and palate together.
• Treatment of cleft lip and palate includes the repair and reconstruction of lip and palate resulting in the normal function of speech, hearing and eating.
• This condition can be treated by surgery only. These surgeries are performed during the first 10-12 months of the baby. For the complete reconstruction and complete normal functioning of the lip and palate, the child may need more than one surgery.

After cleft palate surgery the patient is able to feed properly, there is no passage of food or milk into the nose through the mouth. Ear infections are also reduced. This surgery helps in improving the quality of life of the baby. But for normal functions like speech and hearing, other surgeries or treatment might be required with the growth of the baby.

It takes 3 to 4 weeks for surgical wounds to heal post cleft palate surgery. Usually, after the 1st week, the baby is back to normal behaviour. To protect the surgical wound from touching or rubbing, the baby is made to wear padded arm splints to restrict hand movements. After 3-4 weeks follow up appointments are scheduled to track the progress of healing.

The oral and maxillofacial surgeon is the dentist who specialises in the surgical treatment of disorders related to the mouth and facial region. The oral surgeon performs surgeries to treat, repair and reconstruct the hard and soft tissues of the oral and facial region. He/She also helps in reconstructing these regions for cosmetic purposes.

Healing of the bone graft depends upon the size of the graft and the location of the bone graft. In the case of oral bone grafts, it takes 2 weeks to 2 months to heal completely. Bone grafts will completely fuse with the recipient’s bone in 2 months. Healing might get delayed due to pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes, the habit of smoking or infection of the surgical wound. The surgeon will give you strict instructions to be followed post-surgery for quick and normal healing of the bone graft

• Bone grafts can be obtained from the patient( autograft), other humans(allograft) and animals(xenografts). Synthetic bone grafts are also available for clinical use. These are made up of synthetic bone proteins and polymers.
• In the case of oral surgeries, autografts and synthetic bone substitutes are preferred. Autograts are obtained from the hip bone, tibia, chin and bony area behind the wisdom tooth (retromolar area) of the patient.

A bone graft for a tooth implant is the procedure of transplanting the bone graft to increase the strength of the jawbone before the placement of the dental implant. Bone graft fuses with the jaw bone and increases the chances of stability of the dental implant. Mostly, autografts and synthetic bone grafts are used for bone grafting before dental implants.

• The temporomandibular joint is the joint that connects the lower jaw (mandible) to the temporal bone of the skull. This joint helps in the normal functioning of the lower jaw like eating, speech opening and closing of the mouth.
• Conditions affecting the normal functioning of this joint movement are called temporomandibular joint disorders. These disorders can be localised like trauma or can be the symptom of a medical condition like arthritis.

Treatment of TMJ disorders is entirely based upon the diagnosis to identify the cause of the disorder. Accurate diagnosis of the cause of the TMJ disorder and its treatment results in effective and long-lasting results. Diagnosing the disorder requires a skilled and experienced oral surgeon who specialises in TMJ treatment. At MEDSTAR, our patients get the advantage of treatment from our experienced oral surgeon who also specialises in TMJ disorders.