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Common maxillofacial terminology: Do our patients understand who we are?
t h e s u r g e o n 1 3 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 3 0 0 e3 0 1
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect The Surgeon, Journal of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Ireland www.thesurgeon.net
Correspondence: Letter to the Editor
Common maxillofacial terminology: Do our patients understand who we are?
Dear Sirs, In their recent article on the confusion generated by common maxillofacial terms,1 the authors highlighted the significant potential for misunderstanding between patients and their surgeon. This is a useful contribution to the ongoing debate about the name of the specialty of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS), a debate which is, of course, neither new2 nor confined to the UK3 or the West.4 Given the confusion demonstrated over the term “mandible” it is perhaps a shame that they omitted the term “maxilla” from their study, a term we feel is even less likely to be understood by patients. The usual alternative to OMFS suggested is “Oral and Facial Surgery”, though even this fails to adequately convey our scope of practice.5 Perhaps we should follow our colleagues in Otorhinolaryngology, who have adopted the moniker of Ear, Nose & Throat surgeons, and consider the German example, renaming ourselves “Mouth, Jaw and Face Surgeons” (or Mund-, Kiefer-und Gesichtschirurgie as they would have it).6
references
1. Dua R, Vassiliou L, Fan K. Common maxillofacial terminology: do our patients understand what we say? Surgeon 2015;13(1):1e4. 2. Ameerally P, Fordyce AM, Martin IC. So you think they know what we do? the public and professional perception of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1994;32:142. 3. Hunter MJ, Rubeiz T, Rose L. Recognition of the scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery by the public and health care professionals. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1996;54:1227e32.
4. Subhashraj K, Subramaniam B. Awareness of the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery among health care professionals in Pondicherry, India. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2008; 66:2330e4. 5. Guerrero Fernandes AV, Tandon R, Elo J, Herford AS. What name best represents our specialty? oral and maxillofacial surgeon versus oral and facial surgeon. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2014;72(9 Suppl.1):e105e6. 6. Website of the German Association for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft fu¨r Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie), available at: http://www.mkg-chirurgie.de/ dgmkg.nsf/pages/index.html; [last accessed 24.02.2015].
Thomas E. Howe Rotherham General Hospital, Rotherham, UK Iain Varley* University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK *Corresponding author. 25 February 2015 Available online 20 June 2015 1479-666X/$ e see front matter © 2014 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2015.04.003 DOIs of original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.surge.2013.09.009; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2015.05.003
Reply
Dear Sir, Thank you for your insightful comments and the opportunity to clarify some points from our work.1,2
Your letter raised the interesting question of the many terms we use within our specialty. The questionnaires were designed to evaluate the patients' true understanding of their
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect The Surgeon, Journal of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Ireland www.thesurgeon.net
Correspondence: Letter to the Editor
Common maxillofacial terminology: Do our patients understand who we are?
Dear Sirs, In their recent article on the confusion generated by common maxillofacial terms,1 the authors highlighted the significant potential for misunderstanding between patients and their surgeon. This is a useful contribution to the ongoing debate about the name of the specialty of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS), a debate which is, of course, neither new2 nor confined to the UK3 or the West.4 Given the confusion demonstrated over the term “mandible” it is perhaps a shame that they omitted the term “maxilla” from their study, a term we feel is even less likely to be understood by patients. The usual alternative to OMFS suggested is “Oral and Facial Surgery”, though even this fails to adequately convey our scope of practice.5 Perhaps we should follow our colleagues in Otorhinolaryngology, who have adopted the moniker of Ear, Nose & Throat surgeons, and consider the German example, renaming ourselves “Mouth, Jaw and Face Surgeons” (or Mund-, Kiefer-und Gesichtschirurgie as they would have it).6
references
1. Dua R, Vassiliou L, Fan K. Common maxillofacial terminology: do our patients understand what we say? Surgeon 2015;13(1):1e4. 2. Ameerally P, Fordyce AM, Martin IC. So you think they know what we do? the public and professional perception of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1994;32:142. 3. Hunter MJ, Rubeiz T, Rose L. Recognition of the scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery by the public and health care professionals. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1996;54:1227e32.
4. Subhashraj K, Subramaniam B. Awareness of the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery among health care professionals in Pondicherry, India. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2008; 66:2330e4. 5. Guerrero Fernandes AV, Tandon R, Elo J, Herford AS. What name best represents our specialty? oral and maxillofacial surgeon versus oral and facial surgeon. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2014;72(9 Suppl.1):e105e6. 6. Website of the German Association for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft fu¨r Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie), available at: http://www.mkg-chirurgie.de/ dgmkg.nsf/pages/index.html; [last accessed 24.02.2015].
Thomas E. Howe Rotherham General Hospital, Rotherham, UK Iain Varley* University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK *Corresponding author. 25 February 2015 Available online 20 June 2015 1479-666X/$ e see front matter © 2014 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2015.04.003 DOIs of original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.surge.2013.09.009; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2015.05.003
Reply
Dear Sir, Thank you for your insightful comments and the opportunity to clarify some points from our work.1,2
Your letter raised the interesting question of the many terms we use within our specialty. The questionnaires were designed to evaluate the patients' true understanding of their