Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery

The Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery is the central institution in the Republic of Croatia for the diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with head and neck tumors, reconstructive and plastic surgery of the head and neck, surgery of malformations and deformities of the jaw and face, maxillofacial traumatology and oral surgery.

The Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery was founded on 15 December 1939 as an integral part of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine at Šalat, and has been continuously working even after its move to the Dubrava University Hospital in 1995. The founder and first Head of Department was academician Ivo Čupar. Due to the variety and scope of highly specialized health services it provides, the Department is a unique institution in the healthcare system of the Republic of Croatia. Every year more than 2,000 patients are treated, more than 4,200 surgical procedures are performed and almost 40,000 patients are examined, diagnosed and treated in the outpatient clinic.

The Department consists of four hospital divisions:

Division of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology

Division of Traumatology, Oral Surgery and Diseases of the Temporomandibular Joint

Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Head and Neck Surgery

Division of Malformations and Deformities of Jaw and Face

The Division of Oral Surgery and the Outpatient Clinic have been part of the Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery since its beginnings. The Division of Oral Surgery plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of patients in the fields of  oral surgery, oral pathology and dental prosthetics. This division also provides a unique service in the City of Zagreb: dental rehabilitation and oral surgery under general anesthesia for children and adults with disabilities.

Three reference centres of the Ministry of Health operate in the Department: the Reference Center of the Ministry of Health for Surgery of Tumors of Face, Jaws and Mouth, the Reference Center of the Ministry of Health for Maxillofacial Traumatology, and the Reference Center of the Ministry of Health for Head and Neck Malformations Surgery.

The Department is the teaching base of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Zagreb for students of the integrated undergraduate and graduate study of medicine, the integrated undergraduate and graduate study of dental medicine, Medical Studies in English and Dental Medicine in English, postgraduate specialist study maxillofacial surgery, PhD programme Biomedicine and Health, specialist training in the field of maxillofacial surgery for doctors of medicine and oral surgery for doctors of dental medicine, as well as and subspecialty training for maxillofacial surgeons in the field of plastic surgery of the head and neck.