Oral Surgeon

At some point in our lives, most of us will at some point need the work of an oral surgeon done on us. This is because many people still need to have their wisdom teeth removed, which is a procedure many people choose to have done by an oral surgeon. Oral surgery is a hybrid between surgery and dentistry. Therefore, most oral surgeons have medical degrees as compared to dentists.

Oral surgery is any surgery that is done to attend to disease or defects in the neck, jaws, face, head, and oral cavity. Oral surgeons can also perform surgery on the skull. Oral surgeons are specialized surgeons that work in these regions. The specificity of oral surgeons varies greatly depending upon the country.

More often than not, oral surgeons start off with a degree in dentistry. Most often, they then decide to expand their abilities by going on to attain a degree that allows them to be called an oral surgeon. Oral surgeons must attain a dental degree then receive further training to become a fully certified as an oral surgeon. It usually takes a dentist and addition one or two years to become a fully certified oral surgeon.

Now, however, it is becoming more common for people to attend medical school before they attend dental school, and become oral surgeons right out of school. Programs are becoming widely available that have allowed surgeons or doctors to obtain their dental degrees in about three years after their medical degree is complete.

The following is a list of procedures that may be performed in the United States by oral surgeons.

• Surgeries to remove teeth, especially ones that are difficult like impacted teeth.
• The removal and treatment of cysts and tumors.
• Reconstructive surgery from cancer of the mouth, neck, or head.
• Lip reconstruction and diagnosis of skin cancer in the face or of the lips.
• Treatment of chronic pain of face or mouth.
• Cleft lip operations meant to cure the cleft lip.
• Treatment of joint disorders in the jaw and neck.
• Treatment after facial or oral fractures.
• Bone fusing surgeries including dental splints to fix fractures.
• Cosmetic surgeries in the face and neck can also be performed by oral surgeons.

Most of us, at some point, will have some kind of contact with an oral surgeon. Individuals suffering from any of the above ailments should seek out the help of an oral surgeon because of their education and skill with surgery, medicine, and dentistry and because they typically have had four to six years of training in their specific industry. This means, that sometimes when you seek out an oral surgeon instead of a dentist you may be receiving better treatment. This is certainly not meant to imply, however, that you cannot get equal quality from a dentist as you can from an oral surgeon. It depends greatly on the surgeon and the dentist. There are many benefits to choosing an oral surgeon to perform procedures on you, and for the above procedures it is even recommended that you choose an oral surgeon instead of a traditional dentist.