Symptoms are specific to the type of injury; for example, fractures may involve pain, swelling, loss of function, or changes in the shape of facial structures.

Facial injuries have the potential to cause disfigurement and loss of function; for example, blindness or difficulty moving the jaw can result.

Depending on the type of facial injury, treatment may include bandaging and suturing of open wounds, administration of ice, antibiotics and pain killers, moving bones back into place, and surgery.

Trauma commonly occurs when the face strikes a part of the vehicle's interior, such as the steering wheel.

[9] Efforts to reduce drunk driving are other preventative measures; changes to laws and their enforcement have been proposed, as well as changes to societal attitudes toward the activity.

[8] Information obtained from biomechanics studies can be used to design automobiles with a view toward preventing facial injuries.

[3] In sports, safety devices including helmets have been found to reduce the risk of severe facial injury.

In addition to factors listed above, correction of dental features that are associated with receiving more dental trauma also helps, such as increased overjet, Class II malocclusions, or correction of detofacal deformities with small mandible [20][21] An immediate need in treatment is to ensure that the airway is open and not threatened (for example by tissues or foreign objects), because airway compromisation can occur rapidly and insidiously, and is potentially deadly.

[22] Material in the mouth that threatens the airway can be removed manually or using a suction tool for that purpose, and supplemental oxygen can be provided.

Tracheal intubation (inserting a tube into the airway to assist breathing) may be difficult or impossible due to swelling.

[1] Although cricothyrotomy and tracheostomy can secure an airway when other methods fail, they are used only as a last resort because of potential complications and the difficulty of the procedures.

[2] Treatment aims to repair the face's natural bony architecture and to leave as little apparent trace of the injury as possible.

[1] Resorbable materials are also available; these are biologically degraded and removed over time but there is no evidence supporting their use over conventional Titanium plates.

[1] Medical literature suggests that early repair of facial injuries, within hours or days, results in better outcomes for function and appearance.

By itself, facial trauma rarely presents a threat to life; however it is often associated with dangerous injuries, and life-threatening complications such as blockage of the airway may occur.

[26] Even when facial injuries are not life-threatening, they have the potential to cause disfigurement and disability, with long-term physical and emotional results.

[12] As early as 400 BC, Hippocrates is thought to have recorded a relationship between blunt facial trauma and blindness.

[12] Injuries involving the eye or eyelid, such as retrobulbar hemorrhage, can threaten eyesight; however, blindness following facial trauma is not common.

[9] Increased use of seat belts and airbags has been credited with a reduction in the incidence of maxillofacial trauma, but fractures of the mandible (the jawbone) are not decreased by these protective measures.

[8] In vehicle accidents, drivers and front seat passengers are at highest risk for facial trauma.