Pediatric Craniofacial & Maxillofacial Surgery

Our surgeons are experienced in correcting all forms of cleft lip and cleft palate defects, working to establish normal feeding, speech and appearance. 

Treatment typically requires surgery to relieve pressure and restore head shape for children with craniosynostosis, a type of birth defect that involves the premature fusion, or closure, of one or more “seams” on a baby’s skull.

Read more about craniosynostosis

Plagiocephaly is a misshapen head due to repeated pressure to the same area of the head. Non-surgical treatments such as repositioning or wearing a specially designed helmet can restore head shape. Read more about head shape in infants.

Some syndromes, such as Bell's palsy, can cause partial paralysis of the face. Our pediatric plastic surgeons can perform facial reanimation by using nerve grafts and other techniques to improve facial movement and restore a child's ability to smile.

Congenital problems such as aural atresia and microtia result in absent, small or abnormally formed ears. In a combined effort, our pediatric plastic surgeons and pediatric otolaryngologists work together to treat these conditions. Otolaryngologists focus on improving hearing while plastic surgeons can construct the external (outer) ear using cartilage and or Medpor, flaps and skin grafts and other techniques.

Read more about pediatric ear anomalies

Under- or overdevelopment of the upper jaw (maxilla) or lower jaw (mandible) can lead to problems with one’s bite. These conditions (dentofacial skeletal abnormalities or dentofacial anomalies) not only affect one’s bite (underbite, overbite, or crossbite) but can also affect eating and chewing, speech, breathing, appearance and therefore self-esteem. At Comer Children's, we routinely treat complex abnormalities of the jaws arising from growth problems.

Our team, comprised of craniofacial fellowship-trained plastic surgeons and top orthodontists, performs cutting-edge surgeries to align the jaws and treat the most difficult of deformities. We not only perform standard jaw surgery procedures, but also integrate advancing technologies in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) replacement surgery, distraction osteogenesis and facial orthopedics to optimize the result. Each case is customized, using virtual surgical planning (VSP) and 3D computer technology, bringing higher precision to the surgical and occlusal result.

 Download more information about jaw surgery (PDF)