|
Craniofacial Team: The care of craniofacial patients requires the expertise of super-specialized professionals from many health care fields. Multidisciplinary teams have been established at regional centers to provide the comprehensive care necessary to adequately evaluate and treat craniofacial patients and their families. No single physician can possess the expertise to evaluate and treat all the abnormalities of these patients.
The benefits of the team approach are numerous. Members of the craniofacial team work together to ensure that the patient is evaluated and treated in a coordinated manner and that all of his needs, both physical and psychosocial, are met. The team combines the expertise of each specialist to provide a level of comprehensive care that cannot be provided by a single physician, no matter how reputable.
These multidisciplinary craniofacial teams are found at a few major medical centers across the U.S. where the resources are available to provide the safest and most advanced treatment for patients suffering from facial anomalies. Regionalization also ensures that each team has a large enough patient load to maintain the necessary expertise for proper treatment. The more procedures they perform together, the better the team becomes. Consequently, operative time is decreased, complications are minimized, and results are improved. Craniofacial procedures performed on an irregular or occasional basis invite disaster and are not in the best interest of the patient.
The craniofacial team is directed by the craniofacial surgeon, a plastic surgeon who has received additional training extensively in craniofacial techniques and whose practice is predominantly dedicated to the treatment of facial anomalies.
Neurosurgery
Ophthalmology
Pedodontics/Orthodontics
Otolaryngology
Anesthesiology
Speech Pathology
Pediatrics
Audiology
Psychology
Social Service
Genetics
Nursing
Prosthodontics
Clinical Coordinator |
|
|
