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Consumer-Friendly Definitions
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
An oral and maxillofacial surgeon diagnoses diseases, injuries, and defects of the jaw and surrounding structures and performs
surgery to correct them. This can, for example, include managing facial trauma that results from a car accident. Oral and
maxillofacial surgeons also specialise in the extraction of wisdom teeth.
Orthodontics
An orthodontist diagnoses and corrects bad bite, crooked teeth and poor jaw growth, usually in children and young people which
often involves fitting braces. They also help correct facial abnormalities such as cleft palate.
Prosthodontics
A prosthodontist treats the more difficult dental problems such as people who have badly broken down or missing teeth. This often
involves using crowns, bridges, dentures or dental implants to improve both the function and look of a patient's mouth.
Periodontics
A periodontist is a dental specialist who treats diseases of the gums to prevent tooth loss.
Endodontics
An endodontist specialises in dental treatment for root canal problems.
Special Needs Dentistry
A special needs dentist specialises in oral health care for people with intellectual, medical, physical or psychiatric
disabilities.
Paediatric Dentistry
A paediatric dentist specialises in oral health care for children from birth through to adolescence. Their work involves the
management of dental problems related to medical, behavioural, physical or developmental disabilities.
Oral Medicine
Oral medicine specialists. diagnose and manage the oral health care of patients with medically related disorders of the teeth and
jaws.
Oral pathology
An oral pathologist studies the causes and development of diseases associated with the mouth. Their work involves examining
specimens from patients' mouths to diagnose diseases such as tumours.
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