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Review Paper | Dental Medicine | Volume 15 Issue 8, August 2026 | Pages: 1386 - 1391 | India
Challenges in Maxillofacial Surgery: A Narrative Review of Trauma, Reconstructive, Orthognathic, Infective, and Technological Challenges in Contemporary Practice
Abstract: Maxillofacial surgery sits at the crossroads of function, aesthetics, and survival, drawing together trauma care, oncologic resection and reconstruction, orthognathic correction, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgery, and an expanding menu of digitally guided techniques. Despite decades of technical refinement, the specialty continues to face substantial and interlinked challenges: anatomically hazardous airways in trauma patients, high complication rates in orthognathic and reconstructive procedures, the unpredictable biology of free-flap failure and osteonecrosis, the resurgence of aggressive fungal and bacterial infections in immunocompromised hosts, a steep learning curve and cost barrier around virtual surgical planning (VSP) and three-dimensional (3D) printing, and profound inequities in access to reconstructive and craniofacial care in low-resource settings. This review synthesises recent literature across these domains to outline where the specialty is succeeding, where it continues to struggle, and where future research and health-system investment are most needed.
Keywords: Maxillofacial surgery, Facial trauma, Orthognathic surgery, Microvascular reconstruction, Mucormycosis, Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, Temporomandibular joint ankylosis, Virtual surgical planning, Three-dimensional printing, Reconstructive surgery
How to Cite?: Dr. R. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Seema Yoganna, "Challenges in Maxillofacial Surgery: A Narrative Review of Trauma, Reconstructive, Orthognathic, Infective, and Technological Challenges in Contemporary Practice", Volume 15 Issue 8, August 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1386-1391, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26818225819, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26818225819