Lower Jaw Fractures – How we manage them and how you can prevent them!

Lower jaw or Mandibular fractures are one of the most common facial fractures. The most common reason being road traffic accidents in at least this part of India. It could be prevented or the incidence reduced significantly by wearing seat belts and wearing helmets while driving a two-wheeler. Two-wheeler accidents are generally not in high velocity and so a helmet in most cases totally prevents a fracture. Dr Sunil Richardson is an expert for lower jaw fracture surgery.

This patient came to us after a fall while he was driving his motorbike without a helmet. He didn’t have any loss of consciousness and was able to walk and come in hospital. His vitals were normal and have to bleed per oral. Dr Sunil Richardson and his team noted mobility in the lower jaw near the lateral incisors. The CT scan showed a fracture of the mandible in two places, one near the joint and another right in the centre of the jaw bone. Surgery was performed under General Anesthesia and the fractures were reduced and fixed using titanium plates and screws. All the incisions were used from within the mouth to avoid scars on the patient’s mouth. Also, he would be sent home in 24 hours. Further, he would be on intermaxillary elastics for 3 to 4 weeks for treating the lower jaw fracture surgery near the temporomandibular joint.

Richardsons Dental and Craniofacial Hospital is a state of the art hospital that caters to the entire FACE. The team includes a maxillofacial and craniofacial surgeon, oral surgeon, dental surgeons, speech pathologist, ent surgeon, dermatologist, trichologists, hair transplant surgeons and well-qualified nurses. The hospital even though located in one corner of India, not only gets patients from across this country but also from many other countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, USA, UK etc.

The short video shows how the fracture of the lower jaw looks before and after it was fixed with titanium implants.