INJURIES OF THE JAWS AND FACE

Facial injuries can affect the upper jaw, lower jaw, cheek, nose, eye socket. They maybe in some cases limited to only soft tissues of the face and mouth, or in severe cases, involve the jaw bones and bones of the facial skeleton.

Facial injuries most commonly occur during :-

• Sports or recreational activities.
• Motor vehicle crashes.
• Falls
• Fights

HOW IS A FACIAL INJURY DIAGNOSED?

When making a diagnosis, your doctor will begin by asking about your medical history, including any events that may have caused your facial injury.

A thorough physical and medical examination will also be conducted, to note any injuries to your face and other parts of your body. This may be followed by relevant X-rays and CT scan of the head and face. Specific X-rays are needed depending on exact nature and site of injuries.

Many people with facial injuries also suffer from additional injuries. In such cases additional x-rays, investigations and consultations with other medical specialists may be needed. FMS is equipped with Cone Beam CT SCAN, OPG/Panorama Xrays and RVGs to assess the jaw and facial bone fractures.

TREATMENT FOR A FACIAL INJURY

Depending on these factors, a decision may be made to treat the injury surgically or non-surgically.

• Non-surgical treatment mostly consists of stabilizing the jaw bones by using wires and certain other equipment and supported with analgesics and antibiotics. This is usually done when
• The injuries are minor
• Patient is medically unfit for surgery
• General anesthesia cannot be given
• Surgical treatment involves surgical exposure of the fracture sites, which are then aligned and fixed with titanium miniplates & screws, lag screws etc.
• Most common approach for fixing jaw fractures is from inside the mouth, thus avoiding any risk of scarring.
• Some facial fractures though may need incisions on the face, but are placed in certain areas and skin creases, so that they are not prominent after healing.
• This requires general anesthesia in most cases followed by stabilization of both the jaws together for a few weeks.