title: Oral and cranio-maxillofacial surgery in Byzantium.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Byzantine physicians (4th-7th and 8th-12th centuries A.D.), especially those interested in Surgery, developed a number of interesting concepts, views and opinions referring to the field now recognized as Oral and Cranio-maxillofacial Surgery and Pathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  The original texts of Byzantine physicians, written in ancient Greek, and now preserved in the electronic platform Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, at the University of California, Irvine, CA, USA, were investigated in relation to Oral and Cranio-maxillofacial Surgery and Pathology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most eminent physicians of the Early (4th-7th century A.D.) and Middle (8th-12th century A.D.) Byzantine Period, in particular Oribasius Pergamenus, Aëtius Amidenus, Alexander Trallianus, Theophilus Protospatharius, Paulus Aegineta, Meletius Monachos, and Leo Medicus, in their works deal with topographic and surgical anatomy of the head and neck, and a large list of related topics, including dentoalveolar surgery, oral and cervicofacial infections, trauma of viscerocranium and neurocranium as well as the biomechanics of traumatic brain injuries, temporomandibular joints dysfunction as a consequence of mandibular dislocation, surgical oncology and reconstructive surgery of the head and neck, oral pathology, surgical pathology of salivary glands, therapeutic management of facial nerve dysfunction, preprosthetic surgery, craniofacial surgery, and deformities of the facial skeleton involving anthropologic and craniometric observations. Clinical examination of patients presenting corresponding functional and esthetic problems is considered, using recognizable orthodontic and orthognathic surgical approaches. Finally, specific bandages of the head and neck are described, for treating traumatic injuries of the viscerocranium and neurocranium, diastasis of the cranial sutures, dislocations of the mandible (unilateral and bilateral), as well as inflammatory diseases of the parotids and the neck.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Byzantine physicians had been particularly interested in various subjects of the mouth, jaws, face, and head and neck in general, in the frame of course of their general surgery practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Head: Assist. Prof. Dr. Dr. F.H. Tzerbos), "Metropolitan" Hospital, N. Faliro, Piraeus, Greece; Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine (Head: Assoc. Prof. Dr. G.I. Androutsos), School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Electronic address: draimylo@otenet.gr.
authors.forename: Anastassios I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Mylonas
authors.affiliation: Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine (Head: Assoc. Prof. Dr. G.I. Androutsos), School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftheria-Fotini
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Poulakou-Rebelakou
authors.affiliation: Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine (Head: Assoc. Prof. Dr. G.I. Androutsos), School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Androutsos
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Otorhinolaryngology (Head: Prof. Dr. A. Athanasiadis-Sismanis), "Hippokration" General Hospital of Athens, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Seggas
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Hospital Dentistry (Head: Prof. Dr. J.I. Helman), School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Surgery (Head: Prof. Dr. M.W. Mulholland), Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Christos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Skouteris
authors.affiliation: "P. D. Marinopoulos" Pharmacy (Director: E. Chr. Papadopoulou), Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia Chr
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Papadopoulou
mesh_terms: D018612:Byzantium; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000266:history*; D009057:Stomatognathic Diseases / Q000266:history; D013515:Surgery, Oral / Q000266:history*
keywords: Byzantium; Cranio-maxillofacial Surgery; Oral surgery