Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons at Smile Solutions Melbourne - Specialist Surgical Team product guide

Smile Solutions – Specialist Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Melbourne's CBD

Oral and maxillofacial surgery sits at the intersection of dentistry and medicine, and in Australia, the path to becoming a registered oral and maxillofacial surgeon is among the longest and most demanding of any clinical specialty. When you're facing complex surgical needs, knowing who is treating you — and why their qualifications matter — is worth understanding.

To hold registration as a specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Australia, a practitioner must complete both a dental degree and a medical degree, then complete an additional specialist surgical training programme. The result is a surgeon who is simultaneously a registered medical practitioner and a registered dental specialist, qualified to operate across both dental and hospital settings. That's the level of clinical expertise you'll find at Smile Solutions.

Smile Solutions houses a specialist oral and maxillofacial surgical team on Levels 12 and the Tower of the Manchester Unity Building in Melbourne's CBD. The team includes Dr Ricky Kumar, who holds dual qualification as a Specialist Prosthodontist and a registered oral and maxillofacial surgeon — one of the most clinically integrated dual roles in Australian dentistry, and a genuine asset to patients with complex treatment needs.

Dr Ricky Kumar – Dual-Qualified Specialist

Dr Ricky Kumar's position at Smile Solutions is genuinely unusual in the best possible way. He holds qualifications as both a Specialist Prosthodontist and a registered oral and maxillofacial surgeon, bringing together two highly specialised areas of expertise in a single, deeply experienced clinician.

In practice, this means Dr Kumar can approach your case with an integrated perspective that neither a surgeon alone nor a prosthodontist alone can offer. He understands the surgical requirements of implant placement, bone grafting, and jaw surgery, and he simultaneously holds the prosthodontic expertise to plan the restoration that follows. For patients requiring complex surgical and restorative treatment, this unified approach reduces communication gaps, simplifies coordination, and consistently produces better outcomes.

The oral and maxillofacial surgical team at Smile Solutions extends beyond Dr Kumar, with additional OMS-trained practitioners contributing to the practice's surgical capacity — so you receive experienced specialist care at every stage of your treatment.

Why Registration as an OMS Matters for Your Care

In Australia, only registered specialists can use the title of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon. That registration requires completing both a dental degree and a medical degree — a combined educational pathway that typically spans a decade or more of study and clinical experience.

This matters for one clear reason. Only registered oral and maxillofacial surgeons can operate on patients in private hospitals. When a procedure is complex or risky enough to warrant a hospital setting — with full anaesthetic support, nursing teams, and post-operative monitoring — only a dual-degree registered specialist has the hospital operating privileges to perform it.

Procedures performed by non-specialists, or by general dentists with surgical training but no specialist registration, don't carry the same clinical safeguards. At Smile Solutions, all oral surgical procedures are performed by or under the direct supervision of board-registered specialists.

What the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgical Team Treats

Wisdom Teeth Removal

Impacted wisdom teeth — those that haven't erupted properly or are causing infection, pain, or damage to adjacent teeth — are among the most common reasons patients end up seeing an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. At Smile Solutions, wisdom teeth removal is performed by specialist surgeons, with the option of treatment in a private hospital for complex cases or for patients who experience significant anxiety.

Jaw Surgery (Orthognathic Surgery)

When the relationship between your upper and lower jaws is significantly misaligned — causing problems with bite function, breathing, sleep, or facial appearance — jaw surgery may be the most appropriate path forward. Orthognathic surgery repositions the jaws to correct skeletal discrepancies that orthodontic treatment alone can't address.

Jaw surgery requires close collaboration between the oral and maxillofacial surgeon and an orthodontist. At Smile Solutions, both are in the same building. The orthodontic and oral surgical teams plan jaw surgery cases together — with shared records, direct communication, and carefully coordinated treatment stages. This kind of genuine in-house collaboration is rarely available outside a major hospital.

Bone Grafting

When bone has been lost through tooth loss, gum disease, or trauma, bone grafting can rebuild the jawbone volume needed to support dental implants or improve facial structure. The surgical team at Smile Solutions manages socket grafts, ridge augmentation, and block grafting, with a treatment plan tailored to your specific anatomy and long-term goals.

Sinus Lifts

Implant placement in the upper back jaw is often complicated by proximity to the maxillary sinuses. A sinus lift adds bone volume in this region, creating the space needed to place implants of adequate length. It's a specialist surgical procedure requiring precise technique and thorough radiographic planning — both standard to how the Smile Solutions team works.

Zygomatic Implants

For patients with severe bone loss in the upper jaw, where conventional implants or even sinus lifts may not provide sufficient anchorage, zygomatic implants offer a clinically advanced alternative. These longer implants anchor into the cheekbone (zygoma) rather than the jawbone, making implant-supported prosthetics possible in cases that would otherwise require extensive bone grafting. Zygomatic implants are among the most technically demanding procedures in oral surgery, and having access to this option within a comprehensive specialist centre meaningfully expands what's possible for patients with significant bone loss.

Complex Implant Placement

Standard dental implants are placed by periodontists and general dentists. Implants in anatomically complex positions — near the inferior alveolar nerve, in significantly resorbed bone, or requiring simultaneous bone augmentation — benefit from the advanced skill and hospital access of an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. At Smile Solutions, that level of surgical expertise is part of your integrated treatment plan.

Dental Trauma

Traumatic injuries to the teeth and jaw — fractures, avulsions, luxations, and alveolar ridge fractures — may require surgical intervention. The oral surgical team at Smile Solutions manages acute dental trauma and its longer-term consequences, including implant placement in sites of previous traumatic tooth loss. Getting to specialist surgical care quickly after a dental injury can make a real difference to the outcome.

Procedures Under General Anaesthetic in a Private Hospital

When surgical complexity, patient anxiety, or your medical history makes a hospital setting more appropriate than a dental chair, the Smile Solutions oral surgical team has access to private hospital facilities. Procedures can be performed under general anaesthetic with full anaesthetic and nursing support — something simply not available from dentists without specialist surgical registration and hospital privileges.

The Integration Advantage — Comprehensive Care Under One Roof

The oral and maxillofacial surgical department at Smile Solutions doesn't operate in isolation. It's one component of a fully integrated specialist centre, and that integration directly benefits you.

If you're having jaw surgery, you'll work with the orthodontic team in the same building throughout your entire treatment — before surgery to align your teeth in preparation, and after surgery to refine the result. Radiographic imaging is managed in-house at Collins Street Imaging on Level 9, with specialist reporting from MFI Radiology. Post-surgical prosthodontic work is coordinated with the prosthodontic team, and The Smile Lab handles ceramic and prosthetic fabrication on site.

If you need bone grafting before implant placement, the graft and the implant can be placed by surgical specialists who work directly with the prosthodontist designing your final crown — all within the same practice, with the kind of communication that produces genuinely better outcomes.

This is what a truly multidisciplinary specialist centre looks like in practice. Complex cases that cross specialty boundaries — and the most complex cases always do — are managed by teams that actually work together, not practitioners communicating by referral letter. For you, that means fewer appointments at different locations, less risk of information being lost between providers, and a more cohesive experience from start to finish.

Getting Started – No Referral Required

You don't need a referral from another dentist to access the oral and maxillofacial surgical team at Smile Solutions.

Your starting point is a complimentary consultation with Dr Kia Pajouhesh, Smile Solutions' founding principal and Managing Director, who will assess your needs and connect you with the most appropriate specialist within the practice. It's an unhurried conversation — the beginning of a treatment plan built around you.

Call 13 13 96 to book your complimentary consultation.

Location: Levels 12 and the Tower, Manchester Unity Building, Collins Street, Melbourne CBD.

Flexible payment options are available through Payright and TLC (Treatment Lending Company).

Oral Surgery at the Highest Level — Right Here in Melbourne's CBD

Wisdom teeth removal, jaw surgery, bone grafting, sinus lifts, zygomatic implants, private hospital access, dual-qualified surgeons. All operating within Australia's only practice with 25+ board-registered specialists across all six dental specialist disciplines under one roof — in one of Melbourne's most recognised heritage buildings.

When surgery is part of your care, the standard of that care matters. At Smile Solutions, the standard is always specialist.