To be successful, all of these treatments must be carried out by a highly qualified and experienced specialist practitioner.

If wisdom teeth extractions are expected to be straightforward, it was common for a general dentist to perform the procedure. Many dentists will refer you to a registered specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeon, especially if you wish to be under a general aesthetic or if your extractions are expected to be more complex.

Whereas a general dentist has education and training of 4 to 5 years, a specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeon has a 5-year honours degree in general dentistry, a 6-year university degree in medicine and surgery, and several further years of hospital-based surgical and medical training. In the medical degree and training they study and practise the whole gamut of human health and medicine, including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and the nervous system. Typically they will also have completed fellowship examinations through the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.

Dr Patrishia Bordbar
B.D.Sc. (Melb.), M.B.B.S (Hons.) (Melb.), PGDip.Surg.Anat (Melb.), M.D.Sc (O.M.S.)(Melb.), F.R.A.C.D.S (O.M.S.), F.R.C.S (Ed.)

Dr Patrishia Bordbar is a Specialist Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon (OMS), and graduated from The University of Melbourne Dental School with a BDSc in 1996. She then went on to complete her Medical Degree (MBBS) and Masters degree in OMS all through The University of Melbourne, and completed her four year hospital based surgical training through the major tertiary hospitals in Melbourne. She has spent an additional two years training in the UK, including sub-specialty training in Craniofacial Surgery.  She maintains micro-accreditation in Craniofacial Surgery and is a Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh), in addition to her FRACDS (OMS).

During her training, Dr Bordbar has been the recipient of several prizes and awards, including the F.G. Christensen medal for achieving the highest score in the Part I College examinations (RACDS). She has been awarded the John Cade Memorial Medal (MBBS, The University of Melbourne) and the prize for the highest score in General Practice and Community Medicine (RACGP, MBBS).

Dr Bordbar is Deputy Section Head of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and has been in private practice as a specialist surgeon in Melbourne since 2008. She is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) following a decade of service at RMH. She holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer post at the Department of Paediatrics through The University of Melbourne. She is a regular invited speaker at national and international conferences, and a regular reviewer for major international scientific journals including the International Journal of OMS, Journal of OMS, and The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal.

Dr Bordbar is Vice President of the Australian & New Zealand Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (ANZAOMS), and has served two terms as past president of ANZAOMS (Vic). She is Supervisor of Training at The Royal Children’s Hospital, and is dedicated to the ongoing training of future surgeons. She is an accredited examiner with the RACDS and regularly examines the surgical OMS trainees.

Dr Ricky Kumar
BHB (Auck), MBChB (Auck), BDS (Otago), FRACDS (OMS)

Dr Kumar is qualified in both medicine and dentistry. After completing his training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Adelaide, he undertook further sub-specialty training in paediatric maxillofacial surgery in the form of a fellowship. To further his skills and clinical interests, he then worked as a clinical fellow in John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals of the Oxford University Hospitals Trusts in the United Kingdom.

He practices the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery, including dentoalveolar surgery, implantology, oral pathology and TMJ disorders. His sub-specialty interest areas are paediatric maxillofacial surgery and corrective jaw surgery (orthognathic surgery).