Advanced surgery has developed to such an extent that the body of knowledge and technical skills required have led to surgeons  specializing in specific areas, usually an anatomical area of the body or occasionally in a particular type of patient.

Maxillofacial surgery treat many diseases, injuries and defects of head, neck, jaws, face and the hard and soft tissues of the mouth and Maxillofacial (jaws and face) region. It is an internationally recognized surgical specialty.

Here the surgeons focus on one of these areas to develop a sub-specialist interest within the scope of the wider specialty.

Maxillofacial surgeon is the orthopaedic surgeon of the facial region. He or she is an individual who treats problems ranging from the removal of impacted teeth to the repair of facial trauma.

A range of maxillofacial surgical operations are performed on an outpatient basis under local anaesthesia or conscious sedation. These include

• Pre-implant surgery placement of dental/facial implants
• Removal of impacted teeth
• Intra-oral and facial soft tissue procedures.

Due to the nature of the work, maxillofacial surgeons often work alongside a variety of specialists in other medical arena such as ENT surgeons, clinical oncologists, plastic surgeons, restorative dentists, orthodontists, radiologists and neurosurgeons.