Maxillofacial Instrument Set, 23 Pieces

Video: the 23 instruments of the set, 42 seconds.

What a maxillofacial instrument set is

Jaw surgery is bone surgery. The instruments in this set are made to cut bone along a planned line, split it, move it and hold it in place while it is fixed. Soft tissue work needs only a few pieces at the end of the case, and the set carries those too: one pair of scissors and two needle holders.

Google’s AI Overview, read on 30 October 2026, describes a maxillofacial instrument set as a collection for oral and facial reconstruction, corrective jaw surgery and trauma. It names Rowe disimpaction forceps, used in pairs to grasp and move the upper jaw when a fracture is reduced, Smith sagittal separators for the sagittal split osteotomy, osteotomes used with a bone mallet, and Obwegeser retractors for the chin, the ramus and the mandibular channel. All of those are in ours. It also names rongeurs, mouth gags and Adson forceps, and this set does not carry them.

Buyers also look for it under maxillofacial surgery instruments, or as orthognathic surgery instruments, and students ask which are the instruments used in maxillofacial surgery. The contents table further down answers that for this tray, line by line. A hospital equipping a new unit with oral and maxillofacial surgery instruments can start from it and add its own plating system.

Key design features

Seven osteotomes, two patterns

Four Obwegeser osteotomes come in four widths: 3 mm at 15.5 cm, 4 mm at 15 cm, 6 mm at 18.5 cm and 11 mm at 23.5 cm. The narrow ones work in a tight cut, and the 11 mm blade covers a long one. Three Epker osteotomes, all 18 cm with a blade 6 mm wide and 1.2 mm thin, come straight, with a slight curve and with a strong curve, so the blade can follow the bone it is cutting. There is no mallet in the set; order one with it if your tray does not have one.

Splitting and moving the bone

The two Smith sagittal split separators, 18.5 cm with a 9 mm blade, come as a right and a left. The AI Overview gives their job as controlled separation of the bone during a sagittal split osteotomy of the lower jaw. The two Rowe disimpaction forceps, 24 cm, are also a left and a right, and they work as a pair on the upper jaw. A set with only one of each would leave the surgeon short on the second side.

Two zygoma elevators

A Gillies zygoma elevator, 20 cm, and a Rowe zygoma elevator, 25.5 cm, lift a depressed cheekbone or zygomatic arch back into place from behind. The Rowe is the longer of the two, which gives more reach from the incision to the bone. Both are also sold on their own, so a tray that loses one can be made whole again without buying the set twice.

Retractors, wire and the soft tissue pieces

Four retractors hold the field. The Kinnhalter chin retractor is 16 cm with a 16.5 mm tip, and the Obwegeser progenie channel retractor is 16.5 cm and 8 mm. The Munro ramus retractor has a 25 x 80 mm blade, and a 22 cm retractor works outside and inside the mouth. A periosteal elevator, 18 cm and 9 mm, raises the flap. Berry wire twisting pliers and a wire cutting scissors handle wire fixation. The Mayo scissors and the Baumgartner and New Orleans needle holders carry tungsten carbide inserts for closure.

The maxillofacial instrument set list

All 23 instruments, one of each, read off our own list on 30 October 2026. The set comes without an instrument box.

Where it is used

The first two columns come from the Google AI Overview read on 30 October 2026, the last from our list. Gemini, read on 3 November 2026, places a set like this in oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery and ENT, on the mandible, the maxilla, the zygomatic arch and the alveolar bone.

What it is for, and what it is not for

A bone tray does bone work. The table says what it covers and what has to come from elsewhere.

How it compares with our other sets for the face

Four complete sets of ours work on the face and head. The counts and prices are read off each product’s own listing on 30 October 2026.

Materials and finish

Every instrument in the set is made from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number. The Mayo scissors and the two needle holders carry tungsten carbide inserts at the working end.

The osteotome edges are the part of the set that wears. Keep them apart from the other instruments in the tray, and send a blade with a chipped or rolled edge to be ground before the next case rather than pushing it through bone.

Caring for it

Rinse the set as soon as the case ends, before blood and bone dust dry on it. Open the forceps, the pliers, the scissors and the needle holders so the brush reaches the joints. Never use an osteotome as a lever: the blade is made to cut, and prying chips it. Dry everything, oil the joints lightly, steam sterilize the set on the normal instrument cycle, and count the 23 pieces against the contents list before it is put away.

Ordering and wholesale

The maxillofacial instrument set is made by Adas Instruments in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalog houses. Order one for a single tray, or in quantity for a hospital list or a distributor line. We do OEM work under your own brand and your own item numbers. Send us a sample and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What is a maxillofacial instrument set used for?

It is used for surgery on the jaws and the bones of the face: corrective jaw surgery such as the sagittal split osteotomy of the lower jaw, the reduction of upper jaw and cheekbone fractures, and other reconstruction of the facial skeleton. It holds the osteotomes, separators, forceps, elevators and retractors for that work.

What instruments are used in maxillofacial surgery?

Osteotomes and a mallet to cut bone, sagittal split separators, disimpaction forceps and zygoma elevators to move it, retractors for the chin, ramus and channel, periosteal elevators to raise the flap, wire instruments, and scissors and needle holders to close. Every group except the mallet is in this set, listed in the contents table.

What is the difference between Obwegeser and Epker osteotomes?

In this set the four Obwegeser osteotomes change in width and length, from 3 mm at 15.5 cm to 11 mm at 23.5 cm. The three Epker osteotomes share one thin 6 mm blade, 1.2 mm thick and 18 cm long, and change in curve: straight, slight and strong.

Does the maxillofacial instrument set include a mallet or plates?

No. It holds no mallet, no plates, no screws and no drivers. The osteotomes need a mallet beside them, and fixation comes from your own plating system. Write to us if you want a mallet added to the order before it ships.

Can I buy the instruments in the maxillofacial instrument set one at a time?

Several of them, yes. The Rowe zygoma elevator, the Gillies zygoma elevator and the Obwegeser channel retractor are each sold on their own on our site, and the links are at the foot of this page. For any other piece, write to us with the name and size.

Related products and categories

Three pieces from this set are also sold on their own, for a tray that needs a spare: the Rowe zygoma elevator, the Gillies zygoma elevator and the Obwegeser channel retractor. Our single instruments for this work are in maxillofacial instruments, and our other complete trays for the face are under plastic surgery sets.