Maxillofacial Surgery/Orthognathic Surgery Program

Medical conditions that affect your child’s jaw function, ability to chew, or facial features can seriously impact his or her physical development and emotional well-being. When a child is born with a jaw that doesn’t come together correctly, or if the jaw becomes misaligned from trauma or disease, jaw surgery may be necessary.  

Jaw surgery, also called orthognathic surgery, helps to:

• Improve your child’s ability to chew and take in proper nutrition.
• Relieve pain caused by an improperly functioning jaw, including temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, and direct trauma to your child’s teeth.
• Improve upper airway function and related obstructive sleep apnea.
• Protect the integrity of the teeth.
• Correct bite issues, including open bite, deep bite, underbite, and crossbite.
• Fix facial imbalances, including a protruded or retruded jaw (a jaw that sits too far forward or too far backward), or an asymmetrical jaw.
• Repair facial injuries.
• Correct irregularities present at birth.

Why choose Stanford Medicine Children’s Health for orthognathic surgery

The goal of our program is to correct the position of the jaw to improve both form and function. Our dedicated team of oral and maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, plastic surgeons, and dentists determines the best treatment plan for your individual child. By providing a holistic, coordinated care approach, we are able to create an optimal outcome.

We’re committed to making surgery as comfortable as possible for our patients. To that end, we combine procedures into one surgical visit whenever possible. To accompany a correction in function, we often simultaneously perform plastic surgery to enhance form. Our ultimate goal is not only to correct the misalignment of the jaw, but also to enhance your child’s overall facial appearance.

A variety of services are used to treat a wide range of conditions, including cleft lip and palate and other associated conditions, as well as congenital facial anomalies or irregularities.

We care for children of all ages, performing surgery at just the right stage of your child’s growth to ensure the best obtainable outcome. We are honored to partner with parents on all aspects of care.