What do we do? - a summary...
Essentially we provide specialist hospital based service
for patients in our area. We provide the diagnosis and surgical management
of conditions affecting the mouth, jaws and face. Sometimes only advice
to the general medical or dental practitioners is needed and patients
do not require surgery. We also are asked to help with the care of
patients of other hospital specialists.
What do the staff members of the department
do?
In addition to that are the myriad of other hospital staff who we
work with:
- Blake Ward and the Day
Surgery Unit
- Admissions department
- Pathologists
- X-ray department (diagnostic imaging)
- Orthodontic department
- hospital management
What type of conditions do we treat?
Surgery and non surgical management of disorders of the face, mouth,
jaws & related structures of the head and neck:
- Dento alveolar surgery
- Management of Temperomandibular joint disorders
- Oro Facial trauma (hard and soft tissue)
- Orthognathic surgery (hard and soft tissue)
- Oral medicine and Facial Pain
- Surgical dermatology of the head and neck
- Management and surgery of salivary disease
- Management of head and neck cancer including reconstruction
What we don't do?
- Cleft lip and palate surgery
- Restorative dental work. A consultant colleague will advise on
appropriate complex restorative patients
- Periodontal surgery
- Orthodontics: Consultant colleagues in the Department of Orthodontics
at Musgrove Park and Yeovil Hospitals will advise on appropriate
complex orthodontic patients.
- Prosthetics. With the exception of post surgical cancer patients
requiring obturators
- Basic Dental extractions that do not fulfil the referral guidelines
developed by the PCT. What are we excluded from doing in dentoalveolar
surgery -
- Apical Surgery of molar teeth
- Simple extractions in the non-medically compromised
- Consider use of the PDS for “dental phobic" patients
- Implantology except that limited to recovering cancer patients
Are there some statistics relating to the department?
Source: New Consultation National Benchmarking 2004 Taunton and Somerset
Department of Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery
(Predates fast track referral system and excludes special
interest clinics i.e. oncology and orthognathic)
| Work by type |
Percentage |
| Dentoalveolar |
47% |
| Oral medicine |
27.5% |
| TMJ |
8% |
| Trauma |
8% |
| Skin lesions |
4% |
| Salivary glands |
3.5% |
| Cancer |
3% |
Approximate sources of referral GDP 65% GMP 25% Hospital 10%
What area do we cover?
Population 480,000 people
Area 3452 km2
Where do we work?
Base Hospital: Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton
This is where the department is based.Work includes out patients,
day surgery in patient surgery from Blake and the children’s
unit (Oak and Acorn wards).
The main Accident and Emergency unit in the area is based in Taunton
and it is where our SHO's usually attend to emergencies.
Peripheral Clinics
Yeovil - Out patient clinics including local anesthetic sessions
and day unit surgery
Minehead - Out patient clinics
Wed am Mr. Hamlyn
Bridgwater - Out patient clinics
Tues a.m. Mr. Davidson Mr. Hamlyn and Mrs. Mitchell
West Mendip - Out patient clinics
Wed am Mr. Hamlyn
What are the various sub-specialties in Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgery?
DentoAlveolar Surgery
We have moved a long way from the treatment in the old prints
.
(From the Library of the British Dental Association)
We provide support for those patients who practitioners who are unable
to provide dentoalveolar surgery for patients. These are procedures
which require more complex surgery than simple dental exactions. These
treatments are often carried out under local anesthetic or day case
general anesthesia.
- Wisdom teeth
- Other impacted teeth
- Extraction of retained difficult roots
- Apical surgery
- Orthodontic surgical procedures e.g. exposures
- Soft tissue surgery e.g. tongue tie, removal of polyps
The PCT is soon to develop a dentoalveolar surgery service in Somerset
that will be provided by dentists with skills in these procedures.
We will be working closely with them to try and make sure that patients
who can be treated outside the hospital are so they are treated as
speedily as possible. Also ensuring those needing treatment in hospital
have to wait as little time as possible
Oro-facial Trauma
Most of the patients we manage for orofacial trauma
are referred from our colleagues in the Accident and emergency department,
Patients however sometimes also present to minor injury units or even
their medical or dental practitioner.
As well as managing patients at our base unit in Taunton
At the weekends we share emergency on call work with our colleagues
in Exeter. This means that some patients who need operative treatment
may be transfered to Exeter. We do try and arrange follow up back
in Somerset.
Oral Medicine and Pathology
This is the management of a wide range of conditions
that can affect the tissues in the mouth. Many do not require any
operations except perhaps a biopsy to confirm the disease. Often investigations
such as blood tests and x-rays are need to help clarify matters
Oro-facial Pain
Often patient present to our department with pain around
the face and jaws, their medical or dental practitioners ask for our
help in establishing the cause any help in treating the pain. Often
this requires a series of investigations especially X-rays or scans.
Out-patient clinics
Surgical treatment is normally NOT carried out at the
first appointment for new patient clinics. The first visit is usually
for the purposes of finding out about the patient and their problem
and making a diagnosis or requesting tests to enable a diagnosis to
be made.
| Staff Member |
Day/time |
Location |
| Mr M. Blanco |
Mon AM |
Taunton |
| |
Thurs PM |
Yeovil |
| Mr G. Merrick |
Tues AM |
Taunton |
| Mr M.J.C. Davidson |
Mon PM |
Yeovil |
| |
every other Tues AM |
Bridgwater |
| |
Wed AM |
Taunton |
| |
Thurs AM |
Taunton |
| Mr J. Hamlyn |
every other Tues AM |
Bridgwater |
| Mr R. Pilcher |
every other Mon AM |
Yeovil |
| Mrs H Mitchell |
Tues AM |
Bridgwater |
At these clinics your condition will be assessed and any decision
to treat or investigate should be explained to you. Opportunities
to ask questions will be available. Following the clinic a letter
will be sent to the dentist or doctor who referred you. If you wish
a copy of the letter to your practitioner please inform the clinician
dealing with you that you want to be included in the correspondence.
