Oral Surgeon: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of oral surgeons earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $86,250
- Hourly
- $41.47
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of oral surgeons earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $204,610
- Hourly
- $98.37
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of oral surgeons earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $352,220
- Hourly
- $169.34
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of oral surgeons earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $428,710
- Hourly
- $206.11
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of oral surgeons earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $622,640
- Hourly
- $299.35
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Oral Surgeons perform surgery and related procedures on the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions to treat diseases, injuries, or defects. The median pay is $352,220 a year ($169.34 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is post-doctoral training (72% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $352,220
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 4,910
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
- Most common education
- Post-Doctoral Training
- 72% of workers
Data Government data groups this job as Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (O*NET-SOC 29-1022.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Oral Surgeons at a glance
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States earned a median annual wage of $352,220 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States to grow 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 4,910 people were employed as oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for Oral Surgeons
What oral surgeons do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by occupation experts (O*NET).
- 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.
Oral Surgeon compared with other careers
Data Side-by-side comparisons of Oral Surgeon with careers people weigh against it: pay, outlook, education, requirements and work environment, with no overall winner.
- Oral Surgeon vs Dentist median pay: Oral Surgeon $352,220 · Dentist $170,950 (BLS, May 2025)
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, Biology, Education and Training, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management.
Software oral surgeons use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Apteryx Imaging SuiteGraphics or photo imaging software
- DSN Software Oral Surgery-ExecMedical software
- DecisionBase TiME for OMSMedical software
- DentalEyeGraphics or photo imaging software
- Dolphin Imaging & Management Solutions Dolphin ManagementMedical software
- Gendex Dental Systems VixWin PROGraphics or photo imaging software
- Kodak Dental Systems Kodak Cosmetic Imaging ModuleGraphics or photo imaging software
- Planmeca Oy DimaxisGraphics or photo imaging software
- Sirona SIDEXIS XGGraphics or photo imaging software
- AdaDevelopment environment software
Also called: DDS (Dental Surgery Doctor), Maxillofacial Surgeon, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Resident, Surgeon.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.