Professor Dr Piet Eduard J.J. Haers

Research Priorities: Oral and maxillofacial surgery, cleft lips and palates, facial plastic surgery, dental implants, 3D imaging, biodegradable materials for facial surgery
Piet Haers is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. He is a cleft lip and palate specialist. Further priorities include facial plastic surgery and dental implants. For this he is developing imaging techniques and biodegradable materials.
Cleft lips and palates are the most common facial birth defects. The mouth does not develop normally during pregnancy and defects form in several tissues such as bones, muscles or skin. Piet Haers is a specialist in this medical condition, referred to as cleft lip and palate.
In the case of this defect, the main objective is firstly to ensure that newborns can breathe, drink and swallow freely. In further treatment the oral and maxillofacial areas need to be restored, so that the children with this defect suffer as little as possible. Facial plastic surgery is also used for this. One of the challenges of surgery is the way the face grows. Its growth can be disrupted by incorrect or premature treatments. Piet Haers also performs surgery on adults with cleft lips and palates and is a specialist in restructuring jawbones with the use of implants.
Other areas of Piet Eduard J.J. Haers' work include 3D-imaging and the use of biodegradable materials in oral and maxillofacial surgery.