Military doctor V.V. Fialkovsky: life path and contribution to the development of military maxillofacial surgery and dentistry

On the page of memory among domestic dentists and maxillofacial surgeons, it is impossible not to recall a prominent figure in domestic maxillofacial surgery and military dentistry, Vladimir Vasilyevich Fialkovsky. The purpose of the study was to highlight the scientific, clinical, pedagogical, and social activities of a prominent maxillofacial surgeon, candidate of medical sciences, associate professor, and colonel of the medical service V.V. Fialkovsky, as well as his services to military medicine. Based on the analysis of Russian literature and the life, professional activity, scientific works of the candidate of medical sciences, associate professor, colonel of the medical service V.V. Fialkovsky, this paper presents his role in the formation and development of military dentistry, maxillofacial surgery, and military medicine in Russia. The paper also presents the life transformation of Vladimir Vasilyevich Fialkovsky as a military doctor, researcher, and teacher which began during the battle in Lake Khasan and Khalkhin-Gol River, Soviet–Finnish (Winter) War, and the Great Patriotic War. The main directions of his scientific activity touched upon the development and improvement of methods for the treatment of gunshot wounds and inflammatory diseases of the maxillofacial region and injuries and pathology of the masticatory apparatus in radiation sickness. V.V. Fialkovsky clarified the function of the maxillary sinuses and the physiological significance of its walls and described the age and functional restructuring of the bone tissue of the upper jaw under the maxillary sinuses and its significance for direct prosthetics. Vladimir Vasilyevich studied in detail the possibility of bone grafting of gunshot defects of the lower jaw in acute radiation sickness, plasticizing soft tissue defects by free skin and mucous membrane grafting, and flaps on the feeding leg. He also described the manifestations of chronic radiation sickness in the oral cavity, their treatment, and prevention and revised some erroneous attitudes in the principles of surgical treatment of wounds in those exposed to radiation. The study also described the personal qualities of V.V. Fialkovsky, attitude of the leader of the Kirov Military Medical Academy, and the staff of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Dentistry to him. V.V. Fialkovsky was one of the pioneers of Russian military dentistry.