For those who are contemplating having oral and maxillofacial surgery or are in urgent need of health treatment they may want to consider viewing some educational videos. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) has recently uploaded many of their videos to their YouTube page over at http://www.youtube.com/user/aaomsvideo. They also have a Vimeo page that contains many of the same videos over at http://vimeo.com/aaoms/videos.
I have previously commented on a video on Anesthesia in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Office. I was critical of the video as I pointed out in my prior blog post.
A newer video on third molars (wisdom teeth) has been made available.
This video is made in partnership with the American Association of Orthodontists. The video describes how a wisdom tooth can be impacted and how surgery can be performed to remove a wisdom tooth or wisdom teeth. An oral surgeon interviewed in the video describes how extracting wisdom teeth in the late teens/early 20s results in an easier surgery as the bone is more forgiving, the teeth aren’t fully formed, and the roots aren’t as close to important structures such as the nerves in the lower jaw and sinuses in the upper jaw. The oral surgeon also describes how the length and complexity of the surgery depends on a number of factors including the position of the tooth, the curvature of the roots, the thickness of bones surrounding the teeth, and the overall health of the patient. The rest of the video is clear and concise describing third molar surgery.
Other videos available include those on 1) frenectomy surgery, 2) impacted canine surgery, and 3) temporary anchorage devices.
There is also a video titled saving faces changing lives which gives a good overview of oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMS) and the different types of the kind of health care they provide and training they receive. The video describes how OMS’s perform a large number of trauma surgeries, perform corrective jaw surgeries, and cosmetic surgeries. The video describes how OMS’s have a long history of trauma and reconstructive surgeries. The saving faces changing lives video interviews several patients who are happy with the care they have received by oral and maxillofacial surgeons. One patient was involved in a car accident and thrown their her windshield face first. She had to have her head and face reconstructed. Another patient had reconstructive jaw surgery and before and after pictures are shown which are striking.