Pediatric Dental, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Pediatric Dental, Oral & Maxillofacial SurgeryAt NewYork-Presbyterian, Pediatric Dental, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery programs provide care for children with diseases, injuries, and congenital disabilities of the face, mouth, and jaw. Our experienced pediatric dentists collaborate in multidisciplinary teams with other specialists to bring innovative and comprehensive care to children that address their unique needs.
About Our Program
Operating across NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital, our Pediatric Dental, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery programs provide advanced and comprehensive care for children with genetic, developmental, and acquired disorders of the face, mouth, and jaw.
Our experienced pediatric dentists are specially trained to deal with children’s oral health from infancy through adolescence. Working in multidisciplinary teams that may include specialists in oral and maxillofacial surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, genetics, speech therapy, swallow therapy, orthodontics, and prosthodontics, we treat children with a wide range of disorders of the face, mouth, and jaw, including facial fractures and dental injuries. We also treat young patients with physical and developmental issues and complex medical conditions, such as congenital heart disease, neuromuscular disorders, and suppressed immunity, as well as those undergoing cancer chemotherapy.
We take a holistic approach to care that considers the entire patient, including their physical, emotional, and social factors. Our goal is to offer the most advanced treatments augmented by supportive therapies to give children the best chance for optimal growth and well-being.
Services We Offer
Services We OfferDental Care for Children Until the Age of 15
NewYork-Presbyterians’s pediatric dentists provide compassionate, high-quality dental care and are specially trained to deal with children’s oral health from infancy through adolescence. Our dentists are experts in all aspects of pediatric dentistry, from routine preventative treatments to complex restorative methods and special needs patients. We strongly emphasize prevention and education, working with families to instill good dental habits.
Dental and Oral Care for Children with Facial Fractures and Dental Injuries
Our experts in Pediatric Dentistry treat young patients with facial fractures and dental injuries. We also routinely provide care for children with the most complex medical conditions. For example, our pediatric dentists frequently treat children with congenital heart disease, neuromuscular disorders, and suppressed immunity, as well as those undergoing cancer chemotherapy.
Dental Care for Children with Craniofacial Disorders
NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital feature dedicated craniofacial surgery centers that provide care for children with all types of craniofacial disorders, including congenital disabilities, as well as those due to injury or illness.
Examples include:
- Cleft lip
- Cleft palate
- Craniosynostosis
- Craniofacial syndromes
- Pierre Robin sequence
- Treacher Collins syndrome
- Facial trauma
- jaw disorders
- Hemangiomas
- Other vascular malformations velopharyngeal insufficiency, positional plagiocephaly (“flat head syndrome”), and hemifacial microsomia.
Treating children with craniofacial deformities requires the collaboration of specialists in pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and dentofacial orthopedics, and maxillofacial prosthodontics.
- Dental Care: Our pediatric dentists are available to follow children with clefts and craniofacial conditions closely. Comprehensive dental care is an integrated part of your child’s overall rehabilitation.
- Prosthodontic Care: We provide prosthetic appliances to support feeding or speech if your child has a cleft palate and to replace or restore oral and facial structures. Our prosthodontists also perform presurgical procedures such as nasoalveolar molding (NAM), which expands the palate and prepares your child’s bite to ensure stability after surgery and to correct jaw discrepancies and dental arches before cleft lip and palate surgery.
Maxillofacial Reconstruction
Our oral surgeons, trained in pediatric oral surgery, perform maxillofacial reconstruction, primarily of the bone and teeth, for children who’ve acquired a deformity from trauma, tumors, or congenital abnormalities. These specialists perform surgery to correct facial asymmetries and to adjust the alignment of the jaws and other facial structures as children grow.
- In children with craniofacial abnormalities, oral surgeons reconstruct the lower and upper jaw — usually below eye level. For instance, a child with a cleft lip and palate may be missing bone in the cleft and upper jaw near the teeth. An oral surgeon will perform a bone graft to reconstruct this section.
- Our prosthodontists perform presurgical procedures such as nasoalveolar molding (NAM), expanding the palate.
- Oral surgeons also perform procedures to correct abnormal upper jaw growth or deformity of the lower jaw.
Our Approach to Care
Our Approach to CareHolistic and Comprehensive Care
We recognize that every child with a disorder of the face, mouth and jaw is unique. We take a holistic approach to care that considers the entire patient, including her physical, emotional and social factors. We strive to partner with patients and families in shared decision-making, empowering them with knowledge, support, and the most effective treatment options to achieve the best possible outcome for every child.
Multidisciplinary Team Approach
Our pediatric dentists take a multidisciplinary team approach when dealing with children with complex medical conditions. We have strong working partnerships with specialists in oral and maxillofacial surgery, neurology, neurosurgery, genetics, speech therapy, swallow therapy, orthodontics, prosthodontics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, cardiology, and oncology. As part of a large university medical center, we can provide instant access to a wide range of medical experts and deliver the highest-level multidisciplinary care.
Parents As Team Members
As a parent, only you can provide important information about your child. You can also help other team members shape your child’s personalized treatment program based on your child’s physical, emotional, and practical needs. Your input is critical for making final decisions regarding your child’s care, and our multidisciplinary team is here to work alongside you and your family to achieve the greatest possible outcomes for your child.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose UsLeading Children’s Hospitals
Both NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital are among the nation’s leading centers for the diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases. They are both major referral centers for complex and rare disorders in infants, children, and adolescents.
Expertise in Trauma Care and Complex Conditions
Our Pediatric Dental, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery experts are known for our exceptional treatment of children with physical and developmental issues and for our collaboration with other specialists when helping children with complex medical conditions. For example, our pediatric dentists frequently treat children with congenital heart disease, neuromuscular disorders, and suppressed immunity, as well as those undergoing cancer chemotherapy.
Comprehensive Pediatric Craniofacial Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital feature dedicated craniofacial surgery centers for children of all ages. We care for children with all types of craniofacial disorders, including congenital disabilities as well as those due to injury or illness.
Examples include:
- cleft lip
- cleft palate
- craniosynostosis
- craniofacial syndromes
- Pierre Robin sequence
- Treacher Collins syndrome,
- Facial trauma,
- Jaw disorders
- Hemangiomas
- Other vascular malformations, velopharyngeal insufficiency, positional plagiocephaly (“flat head syndrome”), and hemifacial microsomia.
Access to World-Class Pediatric Specialists
Your child’s healthcare team has access to all of the various pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists who practice at NewYork-Presbyterian, ensuring that all of your child’s medical needs can be addressed.
Advancing the Field through Research
Our pediatric dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgery specialists are committed to improving the lives of young patients with skeletal and soft-tissue deformities of the face Our scientists are also investigating the use of stem cells to grow missing or damaged bone. We are also exploring the development of a program to treat and prevent dental disease in children with physical and mental disabilities.