How Competitive Is Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery
Oral and maxillofacial surgery, or OMFS for short, is a subspecialty of dentistry that focuses on the surgical management of the face, jaw, and oral cavity.
When most people think of OMFS, the first things that come to mind are wisdom teeth extractions and dental implants. Although these are a large part of what an OMFS does, their actual scope is much broader.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment of disorders of the mouth, face, jaws, and neck. The fields of orofacial pain, craniofacial surgery, facial plastic surgery, maxillofacial trauma and reconstruction, periodontics and implants are among the areas within this field.
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons treat conditions such as cleft lips or palates, sinusitis or nasal polyps, as well as other types of facial deformities. They also perform surgery on patients with cancer of the lip or tongue. They may need to remove tumors from patients’ mouths and jaws in order to treat their cancers. In some cases, oral and maxillofacial surgeons will perform reconstructive surgery for people with disabilities caused by birth defects or injuries that occurred during childhood development. This brings us to an important method of differentiating an OMF surgeon’s practice.
In this article, we’ll discuss how many years it takes to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and oral and maxillofacial surgeon education requirements.
How Many Years To Become A Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeon
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Complex Cases in Academia |
|
| Emergency Cases | True emergencies are rare; facial trauma calls are shared among OMFS, plastic surgery, and ENT. |
| Community vs. Private Practice |
|
| Misconceptions about OMFS | Often mistaken for only involving tooth extractions; involves intricate procedures affecting daily lives. |
| Comparison with Other Specialties |
|
| Education Requirements |
|
| Fellowship Options |
|
| Challenges in OMFS |
|
| Scope of OMFS |
|
| History of OMFS | Dates back to 500 BC; Hippocrates described treatment for dislocated mandible. |
| Medical Student Trends | Over 50% change specialty during medical school; OMFS requires dental school. |
| Collaboration with Other Specialists | Works alongside orthodontists, restorative dentists, ENT surgeons, oncologists, plastic surgeons, and neurosurgeons. |
| University of North Carolina OMFS Program |
|
| Program Structure |
|
| Benefits for Residents |
|
This field of oral and maxillofacial surgery is exciting and challenging, requiring mastery of skills to address both functional and aesthetic elements of the head, face, mouth, jaw, and neck. Thus, it requires specialized training—beyond a bachelor’s degree—of at least 8 years total.
Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeon Education Requirements
There are several education requirements to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons usually study advanced dentistry and oral sciences, biology or dentistry. 33% of oral and maxillofacial surgeons hold a bachelor’s degree and 21% hold a doctoral degree. We found these by analyzing 281 oral and maxillofacial surgeon resumes to investigate the topic of oral and maxillofacial surgeon education more precisely.
The most common colleges for students to pursue their goal of becoming an oral and maxillofacial surgeon are Meharry Medical College and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
For those who would rather stay in your pajamas during the day, we prepared some online courses that can help in oral and maxillofacial surgeon education paths.
We prepared a list of oral and maxillofacial surgeon certifications that you should consider. The necessary certifications that oral and maxillofacial surgeons must have to succeed are Board Certification in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and Dental Assistant (RDA).
Conclusion
To start, all OMF surgeons are trained extensively in administering anesthesia. They learn everything from establishing and maintaining intravenous lines to managing airways to performing endotracheal intubation.
They are also taught how to manage any complications or emergencies that might occur during anesthesia administration. For this reason, it is very common for OMFS in the outpatient setting to simultaneously serve two roles—being both surgeon and anesthetist.
The surgical scope of OMFS also goes beyond what many expect. OMF surgeons perform a variety of reconstructive and corrective surgeries both individually and as a part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team. When treating oral and oropharyngeal cancers, for example, an OMF surgeon may work alongside a plastic surgeon and a head-and-neck-trained ENT to remove the lesion and reconstruct the area.
They also perform a variety of corrective jaw surgeries to treat issues resulting from facial deformities, TMJ disorder, or malocclusions. A great example of this is orthognathic surgery, where they manipulate the positioning of the maxilla and mandible to treat conditions like malocclusion and sleep apnea.
Additionally, they can perform emergent surgeries for life-threatening conditions such as Ludwig’s angina.
Like other surgical specialties, OMFS split their time between procedures and consultations. Those that work in an academic center will further divide their time between academic responsibilities such as teaching and research.
