Oral and maxillofacial surgery is the surgical specialty that is aimed at diagnose and treatment of diseases concerning with the mouth, jaws, face and neck. In specialized medicine of European Union this international training course requires at least 5 years of formation for a basic medical education and 4 years for a basic medical and dental education. It is one of the dental specialties acknowledged by the American Dental Association and the Royal College of Dentists of Canada.

There are different consultant specialists who work in this area they are called: oral surgeons and maxillofacial surgeons. As a rule oral and maxillofacial surgeons work together with the other specialists such as orthodontists, oncologists, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons and ENT surgeons.

Abilities of this profession are enormous: oral and maxillofacial surgeons are trained to recognize and treat a huge range of diseases, injuries and defects of the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft palates of the oral and maxillofacial area. They are also educated to make the anesthesia and cope with such problems as the taking out of wisdom teeth, askew jaws, growths and cysts of the jaw and mouth and to make dental implant operation.

This specialty is connected with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases concerning the oral (mouth) and maxillofacial (head and neck) areas, such as:

1. Preprosthetic surgery (bone growth);
2. Facial trauma surgery (re-establish of fractured facial bones, etc.);
3. Facial plastic surgery (rhinoplasty, rhytidectomy, blepharoplasty, facial implants, etc.);
4. Orthognathic surgery (for the modification of dentofacial deficiencies);
5. Dental implant surgery and related bone grafting (substitution of teeth that are missing or make the  dentures stronger; rehabilitation of patients after the surgery intended for swelling extract; holding facial prostheses);
6. Dent alveolar surgery (exclusion of forced and hided teeth, cysts, etc.);
7. Head and neck cancer surgery (growths of odontogenic and non-odontogenic root);
 8. Cleft lip and palate surgery;

 Oral and maxillofacial surgery is often established at the basis of dentistry and medicine. In some countries it is acknowledged as a medical specialty likewise in the others it identifies as a dental specialty. Many countries oblige the presence of the double-certification in both professions: dentistry (DDS, DMD or BDS) and medicine (MD, MBBS and MBBCh) or their correspondent.

Surgeons (OMFS) frequently work together with other specialists including dentists, orthodontists, prosthodontists, radiologists, pathologists, oncologists, ENT surgeons, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons and professionals linked to medicine.