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Hospitals & Health Systems
Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons remove impacted teeth, repair facial injuries, and operate on the jaws, mouth, and supporting bone. The work is unusual because it mixes dentistry, emergency trauma care, anesthesia, and reconstructive surgery in one specialty. The tradeoff is clear: the pay is very high, but the training path is long and the cases are high-stakes.
Also known as Oral SurgeonOral and Maxillofacial SurgeonMaxillofacial SurgeonOral and Facial SurgeonOral Surgery Specialist
Median Salary
$0
Mean $360,240
U.S. Workforce
~5K
0.2K openings per year
10-Year Growth
+4.1%
6.1K to 6.4K
Entry Education
Doctoral or professional degree
+ None experience
What This Role Looks Like in Practice
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons sits in the Healthcare category. In practical terms, this role combines day-to-day execution, cross-team coordination, and consistent decision-making under real business constraints.
U.S. employment is currently about ~5K workers, with a median annual pay of $0 and roughly 0.2K openings each year. Based on BLS projections, total employment is expected to grow from 6.1 K in 2024 to 6.4K in 2034.
Most hiring paths start with DDS or DMD plus oral and maxillofacial surgery residency, and employers typically expect none of related experience. Many careers in this track begin around Dental School / OMS Resident and can progress toward Practice Owner / Lead Surgeon. High-value skills usually include Surgical Case Planning & Facial Anatomy, Anesthesia Administration & Airway Monitoring, and CBCT Imaging & 3D Surgical Planning, paired with soft skills such as Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, and Critical Thinking.
Core Responsibilities
- Review X-rays and exams to decide whether wisdom teeth are likely to cause pain, crowding, or other problems later on.
- Treat emergencies such as facial cuts, mouth injuries, and broken facial bones after accidents or other trauma.
- Remove teeth that are stuck, badly damaged, or too far gone to save.
- Use local or general anesthesia and keep a close eye on the patient during surgery.
Keep exploring: more Healthcare careers or browse all job titles.
A Day in the Life
01 Review X-rays and exams to decide whether wisdom teeth are likely to cause pain, crowding, or other problems later on.
02 Treat emergencies such as facial cuts, mouth injuries, and broken facial bones after accidents or other trauma.
03 Remove teeth that are stuck, badly damaged, or too far gone to save.
04 Use local or general anesthesia and keep a close eye on the patient during surgery.
05 Work with dentists and orthodontists to plan procedures such as implants, jaw correction, and bite alignment.
06 Operate on the mouth and jaws to repair birth defects, fix growth problems, and prepare bone and gum tissue for implants.
Industries That Hire
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Private Oral Surgery Practices
ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers, Aspen Dental, PDS Health
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Academic Medical Centers
Johns Hopkins Medicine, NYU Langone Health, UCSF Health
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Ambulatory Surgery Centers
Surgery Partners, United Surgical Partners International, HCA Healthcare
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Military & Veterans Health
U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Veterans Health Administration
Pros and Cons
Advantages
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The pay is exceptionally high, with a mean annual wage of $360,240.
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The work is highly specialized, so your training and judgment are hard to replace.
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You get a mix of planned procedures and urgent trauma cases, which keeps the job varied.
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You work on problems that are visible and concrete, such as impacted teeth, jaw injuries, and implant preparation.
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The specialty is small, with only about 5,330 workers, which can make strong surgeons stand out quickly in referral networks.
Challenges
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The training path is long and demanding: a doctoral or professional degree is typically followed by an internship or residency.
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Job growth is modest at 4.1% through 2034, and the field adds only about 0.2 thousand openings a year, so opportunities grow slowly.
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The work can be physically and mentally intense because one mistake can affect breathing, chewing, speech, or facial appearance.
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This is a hands-on surgical job, so it is not a good fit if you want predictable hours, low stress, or work you can easily do from home.
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The specialty is tied to referrals, insurance coverage, and specialized practices, which can limit flexibility and make the market feel narrow outside larger metro areas.
Career Progression
Dental School / OMS Resident
0-6 years
$60K-$95K
This stage is mostly training, with supervised surgeries, hospital rotations, and a heavy focus on anatomy, anesthesia, and emergency care.
Associate Oral Surgeon
6-9 years
$250K-$330K
The surgeon handles routine extractions, consults, and implant-related procedures while building speed, judgment, and referral relationships.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon THIS ROLE
9-14 years
$340K-$430K
This is the core specialty role, centered on complex extractions, facial trauma, anesthesia, jaw surgery, and implant preparation.
Practice Owner / Lead Surgeon
14+ years
$440K-$600K
At the top end, the surgeon may lead a multi-chair practice, take the hardest cases, and manage both clinical decisions and the business side.
Education Paths
DDS or DMD plus oral and maxillofacial surgery residency
This is the main route into the specialty; 72.2% of workers are in the post-doctoral training category, which matches the residency-heavy path this job requires.
Doctoral degree in a related biomedical field
A smaller share, 19.84%, are listed at the doctoral degree level, usually alongside the dental and surgical training needed for independent practice.
First professional degree in dentistry
About 7.96% are shown at the first professional degree level, but that alone is not enough without the specialty residency and surgical training.
Key Skills
Technical
Surgical Case Planning & Facial Anatomy 78%
Anesthesia Administration & Airway Monitoring 78%
CBCT Imaging & 3D Surgical Planning 75%
Impacted Tooth Extraction & Wisdom Tooth Surgery 75%
Trauma Repair, Bone Grafting & Implant Prep 72%
Sterile Technique, Suturing & Infection Control 72%
EMR Documentation & Referral Coordination 72%
Soft Skills
Complex Problem SolvingJudgment and Decision MakingCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeaking Job Outlook and Trends
+4.1%
Projected growth (2024-2034)
0.2K
Annual job openings
Employment is projected to rise from 6.1K to 6.4 K over the next decade, representing 4.1% growth. Around 0.2 K openings per year include both newly created roles and replacement hiring from turnover.
Remote availability is currently Rare. Demand remains strongest where employers need practical domain knowledge plus modern workflow and data skills.