Glossary
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential oral and maxillofacial surgeon terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key oral and maxillofacial surgeon vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in oral and maxillofacial surgeon training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Biopsy
- Tissue sample.
- Bone graft
- Adding bone for implants.
- Cleft palate
- A gap in the roof of the mouth.
- Cone beam CT
- 3D dental imaging.
- Dental implant
- A titanium tooth root.
- Dry socket
- Painful healing problem after extraction.
- Impacted tooth
- A tooth stuck under gum or bone.
- IV sedation
- Sedation through a vein.
- Mandible
- Lower jaw.
- Maxilla
- Upper jaw.
- OMFS
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery.
- Orthognathic surgery
- Jaw alignment surgery.
- Osseointegration
- Bone bonding to an implant.
- Residency
- Hospital-based specialty training.
- TMJ
- Temporomandibular joint.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.