Oral Surgery is a recognized international specialty in dentistry. It includes the diagnosis, surgical and related treatment of diseases, injuries and defects involving both the functional and esthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the head, mouth, teeth, gums, jaws and neck.
It involves, but is not limited to: dental implants, wisdom teeth removal, apicoectomy, TMJ disorder, facial trauma, corrective jaw surgery, oral pathology, osseous tissue surgery, anesthesia and bone grafts.
Unlike in the United States, in some areas of the world it is separate from Oral and Maxillofacial surgery (OMS, OMFS, or "Maxfacs"), which is a unique specialty usually requiring both medical and dental qualifications of 8–10 years of education after college.
Oral surgery as a specialty is defined in Europe as a dental specialty. It requires 3 years of further university training after a formal qualification in dentistry.
The Directive 2001/19/EC also distinguishes Oral Surgery from other evidence of formal qualifications in specialized Medicine, such as oral and maxillofacial surgery, which requires both medical and dental training in the European Union.
However, it is important to note that, in the United States, there is such an equivalent dental specialist to the European "oral surgeon". Based on the scope of practice in the United States, "oral surgeons" are those who, internationally, would be more appropriately described as "oral and maxillofacial surgeons".
In 2007, the United Kingdom's General Dental Council transferred dentists on the specialist list in Surgical Dentistry to a reconfigured Oral Surgery list.
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