Maxillofacial injuries

Abstract

The face is one of the most significant parts of the body. It is involved in many of our senses-sight, smell, taste, and hearing. It is how we eat and breathe. It is involved with communication, either verbally, or more importantly, nonverbally. We use it to smile, to frown, and to cry. It is how we project, to others, so many of our thoughts and feelings. For these reasons facial injuries or disfigurement tend to take on more signiffcance, at least psychologically, than injuries to other anatomical regions. Phipps and Shelton (1) presented a case where medical treatment was forgone, on the basis that the patient, although having survivable injuries, would be left without a face.