Cleft lip and palate surgery in University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

About the department

The Department of Adult and Pediatric Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich offers the full range of diagnostics and treatment of diseases of the oral cavity, jaws, face, and upper neck. Depending on the severity of the disease, doctors provide both outpatient and inpatient treatment. The department's doctors use modern therapeutic methods and surgical procedures to ensure the best treatment results, including aesthetic ones. The specialists working in the medical facility have excellent professional skills in the surgical treatment of temporomandibular joint diseases, inflammatory processes in maxillofacial bones and soft tissues, facial fractures, benign and malignant maxillofacial tumors, and congenital malformations, in particular, cleft lip and palate. Malignant maxillofacial tumors are treated in cooperation with oncologists, radiation therapists, radiologists, and specialists from the Head and Neck Cancer Center, which is part of the Department of Adult and Pediatric Otolaryngology. The department has created all the conditions for patients to receive high-quality medical care in a comfortable environment. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Sven Otto.

Many patients come to the department with temporomandibular joint disorders, which, along with the muscles of mastication, ensure the movement of the lower jaw and the closing of the teeth. Dysfunction of this joint causes severe discomfort and can provoke a change in the face shape. At the diagnostic stage, the department's doctors carry out a clinical examination, assess chewing function, swallowing, breathing, the type of teeth closing, and other important indicators. They then perform imaging tests, such as X-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and orthopantomography. It may also be necessary to involve otolaryngologists, neurologists, and other specialists for differential diagnostics with other pathologies. Based on the specific clinical case, therapeutic measures may include effective conservative treatment methods (placement of special splints, drug therapy with pills, intra-articular injections, or a course of physiotherapy) and a surgical procedure. If it is impossible to do without surgery, the department's oral and maxillofacial surgeons strive to perform arthroscopic surgery. Such an operation is performed using an arthroscope (a special thin flexible tube with a fixed camera), which contributes to its minimal trauma rate.

An integral part of the work of the department's team of surgeons is the treatment of benign and malignant maxillofacial tumors. If diagnostic data confirm the presence of a benign neoplasm in a patient (for example, buccal mucosa or alveolar mucosa tumors), an operation is required to remove it. As a rule, sparing surgical techniques, including advanced laser technologies, are used in the department for this purpose. As for malignant tumors, the treatment process is more complex, and an integrated approach is required (a single surgery to resect the tumor is usually not enough). In most cases, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy are also added to the surgical tumor removal. A particular treatment regimen is developed individually for each patient, based on the stage of cancer, the location of the neoplasm, the patient's general health condition, and age. Tumor removal surgery can be followed by reconstructive plastic surgery to restore the aesthetics of the patient's face whenever required.

The department's surgeons brilliantly cope with treating congenital maxillofacial abnormalities in children, the most common of which is cleft lip and cleft palate. Such patients are admitted in cooperation with pediatric surgeons and otolaryngologists. Young patients with cleft lip and cleft palate are highly recommended to have reconstructive surgery followed by plastic surgery before the age of 3 years, namely, before the completion of the speech formation process. Prior to the operation, the department's oral and maxillofacial surgeons perform orthodontic treatment. Following the surgical stage of treatment, additional orthopedic interventions and rehabilitation will be performed with the goal of improving the functional and aesthetic outcomes of the surgical treatment as well as ensuring normal speech development in a child. 

The department’s main clinical activities include:

• Conservative and surgical treatment of benign and malignant maxillofacial tumors
• Conservative and surgical treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders
• Surgical treatment of diseases of the teeth and alveolar processes
  • Surgical tooth extraction (including in patients with somatic diseases and bleeding disorders)
  • Root apex resection
  • Jaw cyst removal surgery
• Conservative and surgical treatment of inflammation of bones and soft tissues of the oral cavity and maxillofacial region
  • Treatment of bone and soft tissue abscesses 
  • Treatment of inflammatory processes in the maxillary sinuses and other inflammatory processes (for example, when cysts are infected)
• Conservative and surgical treatment of facial fractures and the consequences of facial soft tissue injuries
• Surgical treatment of congenital deformities of the upper and lower jaws (dysgnathia)
  • Distraction osteogenesis
• Surgical treatment of congenital maxillofacial abnormalities in children
  • Repair of the cleft lip and cleft palate and other craniofacial malformations
• Dental implants and preprosthetic oral surgery
• Plastic and reconstructive surgery for congenital and acquired soft tissue defects in the face, neck, and jaw bones
  • Microsurgical tissue transplantation
  • Plastic surgery with free flaps
  • Cosmetic interventions (for example, nose and chin reshaping, zygomatic bone augmentation, face lift, etc.)
• Other medical services