Maxillofacial Surgery with Sanitas
Whether your jaw problem counts as medical or dental decides which part of your policy pays for it, and the answer is not always the one you would guess.
Medical or dental? It decides who pays
This is the whole point of the page, because the two are covered under different parts of your policy.
Generally medical, under maxillofacial: jaw joint problems, facial fractures, cysts and tumours in the jaw, complicated wisdom-tooth extraction requiring surgery, and facial reconstruction after injury. Surgery to correct a jaw misalignment (orthognathic surgery) is excluded from Sanitas cover.
Generally dental: ordinary fillings, crowns, cleaning, straightforward extractions, implants and orthodontics. Those come under your dental cover, which on most Sanitas plans is included at a basic level with more extensive work available at reduced network prices.
The grey area is wisdom teeth. A straightforward one is dental. One that is impacted, lying sideways under the bone and needing surgery under anaesthetic is usually maxillofacial. The surgeon will tell you which.
Jaw joint problems
The joint in front of your ear, and the reason for more appointments here than anything else. Clicking, locking, pain when chewing, headaches around the temples, or waking with an aching jaw from grinding your teeth at night.
Most cases are managed without surgery – a night splint, physiotherapy, sometimes injections. It is worth having assessed rather than living with, because grinding damages teeth as well as the joint.
Waiting periods
Consultations immediately. Outpatient procedures after 3 months. Surgery needing a hospital bed after 10 months. Facial injuries are emergencies and covered from day one.
See every Sanitas waiting period in one place, including how switching from another insurer waives nearly all of them.
Where the maxillofacial surgeons are
248 clinics across 41 provinces, with 314 named specialists between them – and you can book any of them yourself, without a referral.
- Madrid – 68 clinics, 111 surgeons
- Barcelona – 29 clinics, 33 surgeons
- Malaga – 16 clinics, 19 surgeons
- Seville – 12 clinics, 10 surgeons
- Balearics – 10 clinics, 12 surgeons
- Murcia – 9 clinics, 9 surgeons
Nine provinces have none. This is a specialty where you may need to travel.
Ask us and we will check who is near you and what languages they work in.
What you pay
Nothing at the clinic on a no-co-payment plan for anything on the medical side. A fixed amount per visit on a co-payment plan. Anything classed as dental follows your dental cover instead.
Find a maxillofacial surgeon near you
Browse maxillofacial surgeons in the Sanitas directory – by province, with addresses, phone numbers and a map.
