Treatment for Facial Fractures, Lacerations, & Dental Injuries

How We Treat Facial Trauma

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are uniquely trained to manage facial injuries, because this specialty combines the technical demands of surgery with a deep understanding of how the face functions and looks. Here's a closer look at the types of facial trauma we treat and how each is approached.

What Brings Patients In

Facial trauma can result from many different situations, including motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, accidental falls, work-related incidents, and interpersonal violence. The injuries themselves fall into a few main categories: soft tissue injuries like lacerations of the skin or the inside of the mouth, bone injuries such as fractures of the jaw or facial skeleton, and injuries to special structures like the eyes, facial nerves, or salivary glands.

Conditions we treat include:

• Facial lacerations (cuts to the skin of the face)
• Intraoral lacerations (cuts inside the mouth)
• Avulsed teeth (teeth that have been knocked out)
• Fractured facial bones, including fractures of the cheek, nose, eye socket, and frontal sinus
• Fractured jaws, both upper and lower

Soft Tissue Injuries

Lacerations of the face and mouth are repaired through careful suturing, with close attention to achieving the best possible cosmetic outcome. Beyond closing the wound, our surgeons also inspect for and address injuries to nearby structures such as facial nerves, salivary glands, and salivary ducts, since damage to these can have lasting effects if not identified and treated at the time of repair.

Bone Injuries and Fractures

Fractures of the facial bones are treated based on the location and severity of the break, as well as the patient's age and overall health. Since it isn't possible to put a cast on the face the way you would on a broken arm, other methods are used to stabilize facial fractures while they heal.

For certain fractures of the upper or lower jaw, wiring the jaws together may be the most appropriate approach. For other fracture types, the preferred treatment involves surgically placing small plates and screws directly at the fracture site. This technique is called rigid fixation, and it has significantly improved recovery for many patients by allowing the bones to heal in proper alignment without restricting jaw movement for extended periods. In all cases, the goal is to access the facial bones through as few incisions as possible, and when incisions are necessary, they're placed carefully to keep any resulting scars as discreet as possible.

Dental Injuries

Injuries to the teeth and the bone that supports them require prompt attention. Fractured supporting bone can be treated surgically, and teeth that have been displaced or knocked out can often be replanted if a patient seeks care quickly enough.

If a tooth is knocked out, the best immediate step is to place it in salt water or milk and get to a surgeon or dentist as soon as possible. The sooner the tooth is re-inserted into its socket, the better the chance it will survive. It's important not to wipe the tooth off, since the remnants of the ligament that hold the tooth in place are still attached and are critical to successful replanting.

Depending on the injury, other dental specialists may be involved in treatment alongside our surgeons. Endodontists may be called upon for root canal therapy, and restorative dentists may be needed to repair or rebuild damaged teeth. When injured teeth cannot be saved, dental implants can serve as replacements.