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Vaibhav Shah

How to Choose a Cosmetic Facial Surgeon

Facial surgery has traditionally been performed by three main specialties. ENT, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic Surgery. It is these specialties that rotate trauma call for facial injuries at most teaching hospitals and large medical centers. These three specialties also perform reconstructive facial surgery for birth and developmental defects and cancer reconstruction. All three of these specialties have invented or developed procedures, techniques and instrumentation for facial surgery. Cosmetic facial surgery is merely an elective extension of facial surgery procedures. Although these three surgical specialties lead the field in cosmetic facial surgery, there are also other specialties that perform cosmetic facial procedures. Ophthalmologists, oculoplastic surgeons, dermatologists , and other medical practitioners may also perform cosmetic facial surgery.

Competition is abundant among the surgical specialties and each of the above specialties has reasons that they believe qualifies them to perform cosmetic facial surgery. In some cases, this competition becomes an outright turf battle. Some of these specialties (most frequently plastic surgery) advertise that only their specialty is qualified to perform cosmetic facial surgery. This is an unfortunate attempt to obtain patients by misleading the public. In reality, there are many types of doctors qualified to perform cosmetic facial surgery. What is most important is not the specialty of your surgeon, not the degree of your surgeon, but outcomes of your surgeon. To say that only a single specialty is qualified is like saying that a Ford is the only good car!

Fact: 80% of cosmetic surgery is performed by non plastic surgeons*

*Source: Sacramento Bee from USA Today, January 18, 2000