Pediatric Craniomaxillofacial Surgery is a subspecialty area of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery that deals with a variety of congenital and acquired disorders of the cranium, face, and neck. Some members of the AACMFS focus on this area in children, and have extended their training to gain additional skills for these complex problems. Surgeons who focus their efforts in this area treat pediatric patients with clefts, craniofacial disorders, jaw deformities, tumors, facial trauma, infections, and other related disorders. Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons who perform this type of work have training in dentistry and medicine and are uniquely qualified to treat the entire craniofacial region. Many have additional fellowship qualification in this subspecialty area, and make it their life’s work to treat children with difficult challenges in an interdisciplinary team setting. The broad area of pediatric craniofacial surgery is a shared domain for oral and maxillofacial, plastic, neurologic, ENT/Head and Neck surgeons.
The training of the OMS who focuses on pediatric craniofacial and cleft disorders also includes training involving speech assessment, virtual surgical planning, psychosocial concerns of the patient and family, as well as a variety of other interdisciplinary realms. This enables them to optimally coordinate the involvement of multiple disciplines in the overall management of the patient patient with most any problem in the craniomaxillofacial region. Active involvement in a interdisciplinary cleft/craniofacial team is an integral part of this area of practice.