Explore by Career/Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Perform surgery and related procedures on the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions to treat diseases, injuries, or defects. May diagnose problems of the oral and maxillofacial regions. May perform surgery to improve function or appearance.
- Median pay
- —
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +4.1%
- Stable
- Typical entry
- Doctoral or professional degree
Key skills
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
What they do
- Administer general and local anesthetics.
- Collaborate with other professionals, such as restorative dentists and orthodontists, to plan treatment.
- Evaluate the position of the wisdom teeth to determine whether problems exist currently or might occur in the future.
- Perform surgery to prepare the mouth for dental implants and to aid in the regeneration of deficient bone and gum tissues.
- Remove impacted, damaged, and non-restorable teeth.
- Treat infections of the oral cavity, salivary glands, jaws, and neck.
- Remove tumors and other abnormal growths of the oral and facial regions, using surgical instruments.
- Provide emergency treatment of facial injuries including facial lacerations, intra-oral lacerations, and fractured facial bones.
- Treat problems affecting the oral mucosa, such as mouth ulcers and infections.
- Restore form and function by moving skin, bone, nerves, and other tissues from other parts of the body to reconstruct the jaws and face.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.