Careers / Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$352,220

United States, 2025

Employment

4,910

United States, 2025

Typical education

Post-Doctoral Training

Job Zone 5

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

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.

O*NET code
29-1022.00
Job zone
5
Experience required
None

Typical tasks

  • Administer general and local anesthetics.
  • Remove impacted, damaged, and non-restorable teeth.
  • Evaluate the position of the wisdom teeth to determine whether problems exist currently or might occur in the future.
  • Treat infections of the oral cavity, salivary glands, jaws, and neck.
  • Collaborate with other professionals, such as restorative dentists and orthodontists, to plan treatment.
  • Perform surgery to prepare the mouth for dental implants and to aid in the regeneration of deficient bone and gum tissues.
  • 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.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$86,250
10th
$204,610
25th
$352,220
Median
$428,710
75th
$622,640
90th

10th percentile

$86,250

25th percentile

$204,610

75th percentile

$428,710

90th percentile

$622,640

Most important skills

  • Complex Problem Solving4.1
  • Critical Thinking4.1
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making4.0
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Speaking3.9
  • Writing3.9
  • Monitoring3.9
  • Active Learning3.8
  • Social Perceptiveness3.8
  • Science3.6
  • Coordination3.4

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 18 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

18

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Reading Comprehension4.05.4Not selected5.4
Critical Thinking4.15.0Not selected5.0
Complex Problem Solving4.14.4Not selected4.4
Active Learning3.84.5Not selected4.5
Judgment and Decision Making4.04.1Not selected4.1
Active Listening4.04.0Not selected4.0
Monitoring3.94.1Not selected4.1
Speaking3.94.0Not selected4.0
Writing3.94.0Not selected4.0
Social Perceptiveness3.83.9Not selected3.9
Science3.63.8Not selected3.8
Coordination3.43.4Not selected3.4
Service Orientation3.13.6Not selected3.6
Systems Evaluation3.03.6Not selected3.6
Time Management3.33.3Not selected3.3
Systems Analysis3.33.1Not selected3.1
Management of Personnel Resources3.03.1Not selected3.1
Operations Monitoring3.02.6Not selected2.6

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
PA$553,7402025
MN$475,250402025
Dallas, TX$431,9102025
RI$414,0602025
VA$403,4302102025
Boston, MA$394,6902025
Providence, RI$377,9902025
CO$360,8202025
Denver, CO$360,8202025
San Antonio, TX$347,8102025
New York, NY$342,7302402025
NY$342,7103502025
AZ$322,8002025
Los Angeles, CA$313,7802025
Tucson, AZ$299,9902025
FL$233,0502025
NC$224,0402025
Durham, NC$219,9902025
GA$129,0101802025
MI$97,040502025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.