Oral & maxillofacial surgeons not only deal with dental oral problems, but also the facial skeleton itself.  Good oral & maxillofacial surgeons are known for their great competence in managing & treating facial trauma, by artistically restructuring the facial skeleton.  This includes major trauma, which can involve the entire facial skeleton or minor trauma that may only involve the nose, mouth, lips, and teeth.

Facial Trauma can occur from a freak accident, a car accident, assaults, gun shot wounds, sports, or even a simple fall at home or a casual walk.

So speaking of freak accidents!  In 2017, Caprock Oral Surgery had a patient who was seen on an emergency basis because he was vaping!  That’s right. These vaping devices can explode on occasion, and sometimes in their user’s mouth!  This is exactly what happened to this very unfortunate patient! This patient’s wound looked like a gunshot wound to the upper lip, front teeth and the palate.  The upper lip was opened up to the nose.  Four front teeth were missing and there was no bone present where the four front teeth were located.  As if that’s not enough, the roof of the mouth was also split in the middle!

Fortunately for this patient, our surgeons ( Dr. Ramsey Fanous and Dr. Gene Morris) have 44 years of combined experience treating facial trauma.  Even with all of their experience, our surgeons were surprised at the extent of the injury from vaping! 

It took multiple surgical procedures to correct the damage done by the vaping device.  First, the lip was cleaned and sutured, then the inside of the mouth was debrided of all loose bone and tooth particles and the gums were closed with stitches.   The next step was to reconstruct the missing bone that houses the teeth.  This was done with various bone grafting techniques that our surgeons are very experienced with and that can only be obtained to this degree through many hours of surgical trauma experience. Finally, after months of healing, dental implants were placed to replace the four missing front teeth.  This entire process took 14 months!

So, if you vape, please think twice before continuing with this habit, as it could delay your life, as you know, it for 14 months, causing tremendous trauma, surgical procedures, and recovery time!