Are Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons Trained in Facial Plastic Surgery?

Question

Noticed a lot of oral maxillofacial surgeons perform facial plastic surgery procedures such as cheek implants, facelifts and eyelid surgery. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons promotes this along with jaw surgeries and dental implants. Does their board certifications and/or training include facial plastic surgery training?

Joseph Campanelli, MD · Answer

The technical answer to your question is yes, their training does include study of plastic surgery.  However, technically, facial plastic surgeons have training in oral maxillofacial surgery.  The question you really should ask is: does it make sense to choose a surgeon that did not primarily study plastic surgery?  When you choose a surgeon, you are not only choosing someone that knows "how to do the procedure" but also someone that has dedicated their training to knowing "how to do the procedure well"   Oral surgeons are specialized dentists.  They are primarily trained to operate on dental structures.  For these procedures, I recommend them without hesitation.  In fact, I have referred many a patient desiring oral aesthetic surgery to maxillofacial surgeons.  Not because I can't do the surgery, but rather because I know that an oral surgeon can do the procedure better than I.

	One of the most important qualities a physician can have is putting the needs of their patient above their own financial interests.  Unfortunately, there are too many pretenders in plastic surgery that try and take advantage of a confused public.  There are many family practice docs that "reinvent" themselves as cosmetic surgeons, radiologists that open medi-spas, dermatologists that take a weekend course and start offering facelifts in their back office.  My best advice is choose a surgeon who's board certification makes sense for the procedure.

Are Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons Trained in Facial Plastic Surgery?

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Are Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons Trained in Facial Plastic Surgery?

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