Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition

News & Opinions DENTALTRIBUNE Middle East & Africa Edition The main cause of oral and fa- cial trauma in the UAE is road traffic accidents. Contrary to many parts of the world where the incidence of injury from road traffic accidents has de- creased, statistics show that road traffic accidents are still the main cause of facial trauma. While seat belt use is increas- ingly prevalent in the UAE, the increase in facial trauma caused by road accidents may be attrib- uted to the size of the car or the speed of the vehicles. Incidentally, recent improve- ment in initial resuscitation pro- cedures at the accident site has resulted in more trauma victims being rescued and bought to the hospital for treatment rather than perishing in the accident. Oral and facial trauma, as well as updates in maxillofacial reconstruction, oral cancer, mi- croneurosuregery, facial cos- metic and orthognathic surgery will be reviewed at the 2nd Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Con- gress to be held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi hotel in Dubai from 1 - 5 May 2011. Or- ganised by Imedex in association with Arab Health, this year’s meetingwillprovideanumberof new features that explore the rapidly reshaping field of oral and maxillofacial surgery. “A unique type of facial trauma is fall from heights” says Dr Khaled Ghandour, Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Dubai Health Au- thority and speaker at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Con- gress.“Althoughthefiguresfrom trauma caused from falls have gone down considerably since 2008 when construction was booming in the UAE, there are still an alarming number of pa- tients seeking treatment for this type of injury.” “Treatment for facial trauma in the UAE is very advanced and with the high number of surgery cases treated annually, UAE is oneoftheleadingtreatmentcen- tres in the world,” Dr Ghandour explains. “Dubai’s Rashid Hospital, which is one of four specialist trauma treatment centres in the UAE, will treat up to 400 facial trauma patients a year requiring surgery or less invasive emer- gency treatment.” Other conditions requiring oral and maxillofacial surgery are congenital and birth defor- mities such as a cleft pallet or cleft lip. This requires secondary and tertiary surgery and many years of intensive treatment to correct the condition. Tumors and oral facial pathology also make up a number of oral sur- gery cases in the UAE. DT 2 DENTAL TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Newspaper · Middle East & Africa Edition Published by Education Zone in licence of Dental Tribune International GmbH © 2011, Dental Tribune International GmbH. All rights reserved. Dental Tribune makes every effort to report clinical information and manu- facturer’s product news accurately, but cannot assume responsibility for the validityofproductclaims,orfortypographicalerrors.Thepublishersalsodo not assume responsibility for product names or claims, or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not re- flect those of Dental Tribune International. Editorial Board Prof. Abdullah Al-Shammary, Restorative Dentistry, KSA Prof. Hussain F. Al Huwaizi, Endodontics, Iraq Prof. Samar Burgan, Oral Medicine, Jordan Dr. Abdel Salam Al Askary, Implantology, Egypt Dr. Talal Al-Harbi, Orthodontist, Qatar Dr. Mohammed H. Al Jishi, Bahrain Dr. Lara Bakaeen, Prosthodontist , Jordan Dr. Aisha Sultan, Periodontist, UAE Dr. Kamal Balaghi Mobin Aesthetics, Iran President/CEO Yasir Allawi y.allawi@dental-tribune.ae Director mCME: Dr. D. Mollova info@cappmea.com Marketing manager Khawla Najib khawla@dental-tribune.ae Production manager Hussain Alvi dentalme@dental-tribune.ae PO Box 214592, Dubai, UAE, Tel + 971 4 391 0257 Fax + 971 4 366 4512 www.dental-tribune.com Road accidents leading cause of facial trauma in UAE AD