maxfacts.uk

A website developed by researchers at the University of York which provides information and help on all aspects of oral and maxillofacial surgery has been recommended by two professional bodies.

The website maxfacts.uk, which was developed by members of the York Cross-disciplinary Centre for Systems Analysis (YCCSA), has been endorsed and recommended by the British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS), The Royal College of Surgeons have included the publication describing the making & working of maxfacts.uk (maxfacts.uk/open-access-paper.pdf) in their April 2018 list of ‘Recommended Reading’.

maxfacts.uk provides information on all aspects of the discipline of oral and maxillofacial surgery, from impacted teeth, orofacial pain, mouth ulcers, orofacial infections, trauma, to mouth and skin cancers. Some of these conditions will affect approximately 1 in 4 people in their lifetime.

The website provides accurate information about conditions, treatment, and managing the consequences of conditions and treatment in the mouth, jaws and face. One aim is to help patients to take ownership of their conditions and help them to help themselves. However, the website is designed as a single-platform information resource for patients, carers and professionals alike.

A beta-version of the website was launched in June 2017 at the Annual Scientific BAOMS Meeting in Birmingham. The endorsement by BAOMS will magnify its impact in the real world and will help maxfacts.uk to help a wider range of patients and professionals alike.

maxfacts.uk went international in September 2018, with two presentations to the 24th International Congress of EACMFS (European Association of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery) in Munich.

The maxfacts.uk website design is deliberately generic and modular, and other health care professionals are already talking to the developers about versions for their own domains. The resource is free to use and has no commercial interests or conflicts; all code is open source.

If you are interested in developing a version of maxfacts for your own area, or if you would be interested in supporting the maxfacts team and its mission by providing expert material for some remaining content gaps of the original maxfacts.uk website, please contact Angelika Sebald (angelika.sebald@york.ac.uk).

The website is continually being extended and updated by members of YCCSA, David A. Mitchell, Angelika Sebald and Lauren Tomasello. David, Angelika and Lauren would like to thank the contributors and helping hands and minds who have so far supported the making of maxfacts.uk, including many useful and insightful comments by patients‌