Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

patient surgery realistic interests jaw infection disease anesthetics maxillofacial region arm

Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (OMS), Oral Surgeon, Surgeon

What they do:
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.
On the job, you would:
  • 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.

Knowledge

Health

  • medicine and dentistry
  • therapy and counseling

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Math and Science

  • biology
  • psychology

Business

  • customer service

Skills

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Hand and Finger Use

  • keep your arm or hand steady
  • put together small parts with your fingers

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • notice when problems happen

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

They do well at jobs that need:

  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Concern for Others
  • Self Control
  • Stress Tolerance

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Graphics or photo imaging software

  • Apteryx Imaging Suite
  • Sirona SIDEXIS XG

Medical software

  • DecisionBase TiME for OMS
  • Dolphin Imaging & Management Solutions Dolphin Management

Development environment software

  • Ada

Education

Education: (rated 5 of 5)
post-doctoral training or
doctoral degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about oral and maxillofacial surgeons.