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Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery & Dentistry

Clinical Expertise

For appointments and information, please call (212) 746-5175

The Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Dentistry provides care to healthy and medically compromised individuals in both outpatient and inpatient settings, and also serves patients in the Emergency Department. Since the Division is based in an academic medical center, our faculty also draw on the resources of multiple specialists in fields such as plastic and reconstructive surgery, neurosurgery, otorhinolaryngology, and others as needed. From routine dental care on teeth and gums to innovative arthroscopic surgery on jaw joints and major reconstructive facial surgery, our specific areas of expertise include:

• General dentistry – preventative, restorative, and cosmetic
• Implant dentistry
• Endodontics (root canal procedures)
• Periodontics – surgical and non-surgical – for the treatment of gum and other tissue diseases
• Complex prosthodontics
• Pediatric dentistry
• Oral and maxillofacial medicine and pathology
• Dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia
• Non-surgical care of temporomandibular joint disorders
• Orthodontics to correct teeth alignment and other abnormalities
• Diagnosis and management of acute, chronic, and atypical head, neck, facial, and oral pain syndromes
• Surgical management – arthroscopic, open, and replacement – of temporomandibular joint derangements
• Surgical management for benign diseases of the mouth and jaws. We also team with head and neck surgeons and plastic and reconstructive surgeons for management of malignant diseases of the mouth and jaws.
• Surgical management – orthognathic and reconstructive – for congenital and growth deformities and management of facial trauma

With experts in each of these areas, patients are assured continuity of care for any level of dental concern.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

The Division's oral and maxillofacial surgeons have extensive experience in a full range of surgical procedures for mouth, head and neck pathologies – including routine removal of teeth, placement of dental implants, surgery for arthritis of the jaw joint, and reconstructive procedures for correcting deformities of the jaw and face caused by disease, trauma or injury. For example, they perform some 100 major elective facial skeletal reconstructive procedures a year.

Dr. Howard Israel, Professor of Clinical Surgery, Dr. David Behrman, Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery , and Dr. Joel Friedman, Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at New-York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center have pioneered advances in the treatment of patients with severe temporomandibular joint disorders. The advanced techniques they have developed involve a team approach with treatment often being provided in the hospital's Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery outpatient facility. Temporomandibular joint arthroscopy is a minimally invasive technique that does not involve incisions or sutures, and allows direct inspection and treatment of the cause of many temporomandibular joint disorders. This advanced minimally invasive technique allows the patient to recover very rapidly and most often is performed in the hospital's Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery outpatient facility, eliminating the need for general anesthesia. This unique procedure is generally the most conservative surgical alternative, has a very high success rate and provides patients with a safe cost effective treatment. For those patients with more advanced temporomandibular joint disease, the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery team at New- York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell performs total joint replacement with a custom prosthesis, which is fabricated specifically to the unique anatomy for each individual patient. These procedures are performed in the operating room of the hospital. The Oral & Maxillofacial surgeons at NewYork -Presbyterian / Weill Cornell are nationally and internationally recognized for their leadership and expertise in both minimally invasive arthroscopy and custom total joint replacement in the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders, attracting patients from all over the United States and abroad.

For more information about new treatments for temporomandibular joint disorders , call 212-746-5175

Restorative Implant Dentistry

Dental implants can provide an alternative to dentures or bridges for replacing missing or diseased teeth. Implants are small titanium screws that are inserted into the jaw bones to replace the roots of teeth. They are then used as a base onto which prosthetic crowns can be attached or as a supportive base for crowns, bridges and dentures. Our general and restorative dentists, periodontists, and oral and maxillofacial surgeons are skilled in comprehensive care involving dental implants from diagnosis to placement to restoration. We follow patients through every stage of the process, beginning with preparing the mouth to receive the implants, including any needed bone augmentation or reshaping. Next the implants are surgically inserted during an office procedure using local anesthesia, often with moderate sedation. Several months of healing time is then allowed for the implants to fuse (integrate) with the surrounding bone. Once integrated, the implants are uncovered and the process of building the new teeth – removable or permanent – begins.