Facial trauma may involve injuries to the soft tissue of the face such as burns, lacerations and contusions, or hard tissue fractures, for example to the mandible or maxilla, the cheekbones or the zygomatic arch, the nose, eye sockets or the teeth.
In children, the most frequent facial trauma are usually fractures of the nose, cheekbone or jawbone and injuries to the skin. In adults, however, facial trauma is usually more severe, caused by traffic or sports accidents or physical attack. These cases may present isolated fractures in any part of the facial structure, what is known as panfacial trauma, which affects several or all the bones in the face and is therefore considered the most serious of facial traumas.
