About the channel
Medicine's darkest chapters. Then vs Now.
The Broken Face is a YouTube documentary channel about the dark history and modern science of the human face: the jaw, the skull, the teeth, trauma and reconstruction. The episodes are written by an oral & maxillofacial surgeon.
Our weekly series, Then vs Now, ends every story with what the same problem looks like in a surgeon's hands today. History channels rarely do the medicine; medical channels rarely do the history. We do both. Other series, like Medicine on Film, tell medical history through real archive film.
Our promise
- Real stories. Named patients and surgeons, from court records, archives and museum collections.
- Real science. No fake gore and no fake facts. Medical terms are explained in plain words.
- Sources you can check. Every claim is checked against independent sources, listed on each episode page and in the YouTube description.
- Respect. We never mock patients or show real wounds for shock. Some visuals are illustrations or reconstructions, and we use AI tools in parts of production; every fact is checked by a person.
Watch and follow
New stories every week on YouTube, with short clips on Instagram and Facebook. The best way not to miss one is the email list.
Test yourself
Think you know more? Prove it.
Every episode has a free 10-question quiz at AxonQuiz.com, a study app and sister project of this channel. Play it alone, or challenge the bot.
Play a free quiz →For education only — not medical advice. Questions or corrections: contact us.