Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the Pregnant Patient

Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) is a specialty of dentistry and medicine that includes the diagnosis and surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries, and defects involving maxillofacial and contiguous head and neck regions. The present chapter aims to further introduce the origin and scope of OMS and discuss the most common procedures done on pregnant patients. While the obstetrician (OB-GYN) serves as the primary physician during pregnancy, there are a myriad of situations in which intervention of an oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMFS) is beneficial and/or inevitable. These may range from prevention to acute, subacute, or chronic conditions in need of elective, semi-urgent, or urgent management. The authors have provided an overview of these scenarios with an emphasis on infection, trauma, and pathology. Close cooperation between the OMFS and the OB-GYN, and an understanding of each other’s role in the care of the pregnant female, seems crucial to optimal mother and fetus care.