An oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS) is a dental specialist who performs surgery on the mouth, jaws, and face — from removing impacted wisdom teeth and placing dental implants to corrective jaw surgery, treating facial trauma, and managing pathology.
Becoming one takes the longest, most competitive path in dentistry: a four-to-six-year surgical residency after dental school, some tracks awarding a medical degree too.
OMS are typically the highest-earning dental specialists.
What is an oral & maxillofacial surgeon?
An oral and maxillofacial surgeon is a dentist who has specialized in surgery of the mouth, jaws, and facial region.
The scope is broad and genuinely surgical — well beyond what a general dentist does — spanning dentoalveolar surgery (teeth and the bone around them), reconstructive and corrective jaw procedures, facial trauma, and oral pathology.
OMS work in both dental offices and hospitals, often with operating-room privileges, and are trained to administer the full range of anesthesia and sedation.
It's the surgical arm of dentistry, sitting at the intersection of the dental and medical worlds.
What does an oral surgeon do day to day?
The bread-and-butter is dentoalveolar surgery — removing impacted wisdom teeth and difficult extractions, and placing dental implants, often under sedation or general anesthesia.
Beyond that, an OMS performs corrective (orthognathic) jaw surgery, treats facial injuries and fractures, removes cysts and tumors, and biopsies and manages oral pathology.
Days split between office procedures and, for the bigger cases, the hospital operating room.
Much of the work arrives by referral from general dentists and orthodontists, which makes referral relationships central to the practice.
Oral surgeon vs. general dentist (and who does implants)
A general dentist handles routine care and refers surgical cases out; the OMS is where the hardest surgical work goes.
Impacted wisdom teeth, complex extractions, jaw surgery, and facial trauma are squarely OMS territory.
Implants are the interesting overlap: general dentists, periodontists, and oral surgeons all place them, which makes "who does my implant" a real question for patients.
OMS bring surgical training and anesthesia capability to complex implant and bone-grafting cases, while simpler cases are often done by a GP.
The right provider depends on the case's complexity.
How you become an oral surgeon
It's the longest road in dentistry.
You first become a dentist — a bachelor's degree, four years of dental school for a DDS or DMD, and licensure.
Then comes a hospital-based oral and maxillofacial surgery residency of at least four years — the CODA accreditation minimum; some integrated programs also award an MD along the way.
Board certification comes from the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS).
All told it's often 12 or more years of training after high school, and admission to OMS residency is among the most competitive in the field — which is part of why the specialty pays what it does.
See the step-by-step guide to how to become an oral surgeon, or the CODA-set minimum residency length for exactly what's required.
How much does an oral surgeon earn?
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are typically the highest-paid dental specialists.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of about $352,220 per year for OMS (OEWS, SOC 29-1022, May 2025) — roughly $169 an hour — with a very wide range that runs past $600,000 at the top, reflecting ownership, case mix, and hospital work.
As with other specialties, most OMS own or partner in practices, so real earnings blend clinical pay and practice profit, and estimates vary by source and release.
See our oral surgeon salary guide for the percentile breakdown, or browse current oral surgeon openings.