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Studies & Degrees in Oral Surgery

Oral surgery is the surgical side of dentistry: the removal of impacted and damaged teeth, surgery of the gums and jawbone, the placing of dental implants and the treatment of infections, cysts and injuries of the mouth. The wider field is oral and maxillofacial surgery, which the US commission that recognises dental specialties defines as the diagnosis and the surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries and defects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts it more simply: oral and maxillofacial surgeons operate on the mouth, jaws, teeth, gums, neck and head, with procedures such as repairing a cleft lip and palate or removing impacted teeth. Whether this is a dental or a medical specialty depends on the country, and that decides the route a student has to follow.

What students learn

Training builds on general dentistry or medicine. It covers the anatomy of the head and neck, local anaesthesia and sedation, tooth extraction and surgery of impacted teeth, implant and bone-graft surgery, oral pathology, the management of facial trauma and infections, and the care of medically complex patients. In the longer hospital programmes it extends to corrective jaw surgery, tumours and reconstruction.

Qualifications and levels

  • Dentistry degree. The first step in most countries. In Spain, the official bachelor's degree (grado) in Odontología has 300 ECTS credits under Order CIN/2136/2008. The Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid, for example, lists its Grado en Odontología with 300 ECTS and teaching in Spanish or English.
  • Spain: a medical specialty. Cirugía Oral y Maxilofacial is an official medical specialty. The programme (Orden SCO/2753/2007) lasts 5 years and requires a prior degree in Medicine, not Dentistry. It covers the mouth, the face and the craniofacial region.
  • Spain: postgraduate programmes for dentists. Dentists extend their surgical training through master's programmes at universities and postgraduate centres. The Institución Universitaria Mississippi (I.U.M) in Madrid, for example, offers a Máster en Periodoncia y Cirugía and states that it is a collaborating postgraduate centre of the Universidad Católica de Ávila, which awards the ECTS credits of its programmes. Ask each school what recognition its qualification has.
  • United Kingdom. Oral surgery has its own specialist list at the General Dental Council (GDC). Dentists who complete an approved specialist training programme can apply for a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) and entry onto the list.
  • Ireland. The Dental Council recognises two specialties for specialist registration: oral surgery and orthodontics. The School of Dental Science of Trinity College Dublin lists oral surgery among its Clinical Doctorate in Dental Surgery programmes.
  • United States. Dentists need a DDS or DMD degree. Oral and maxillofacial surgery residencies typically take 4 to 6 years and may lead to a joint Medical Doctor (M.D.) degree, according to the BLS. A dentist who wants to practise a specialty must hold a licence in it.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 7 active schools for oral surgery. Spain has 2, and the United States, Nigeria, Ireland, Ukraine and Russia have 1 each.

The two schools in Spain are in Madrid: the Universidad CEU San Pablo and the Institución Universitaria Mississippi. Abroad, the list includes the University of Dublin, Trinity College; the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, whose Faculty of Dentistry has a Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology; Bukovinian State Medical University in Ukraine; and Rostov State Medical University in Russia.

Surgical training means treating patients, so students need the language of the country as well as the language of the course. A dental or specialist qualification from one country is not automatically valid in another. Before enrolling, check with the dental regulator of the country where you want to work how the degree and any specialist title are recognised.

Careers

Oral surgeons work in private dental clinics, often taking referrals from general dentists, and in hospital departments, dental schools and the armed forces. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons work mainly in hospitals.

For the United States, the BLS counts about 161,400 dentists in 2025, of whom 5,600 were oral and maxillofacial surgeons. It projects that overall employment of dentists will grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations. No comparable official figure for Spain was found for this page.

Frequently asked questions

Is oral surgery the same as oral and maxillofacial surgery?

No. Oral surgery usually means surgery inside the mouth carried out by dentists. Oral and maxillofacial surgery also covers the jaws, face and neck. In Spain it is a 5-year medical specialty; in the United States it is a dental specialty with a residency of 4 to 6 years.

Do I need a medical degree?

In Spain, yes for the specialty of Cirugía Oral y Maxilofacial, which requires a degree in Medicine. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States the route starts from a dentistry degree, and some US residencies add a medical degree.

Can any dentist carry out oral surgery in the United Kingdom?

According to the GDC, dentists do not have to join a specialist list to practise a particular specialty, but only those on the list can use the title "specialist".

How long is the dentistry degree in Spain?

The Grado en Odontología has 300 ECTS credits, which is normally five academic years.