Skills
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and how to build and show them.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons need technical skills such as oral surgery, anesthesia and sedation, and implant placement, plus people skills like precision and calm under pressure. They also use tools such as Surgical instruments and Cone beam CT.
Technical (hard) skills
- Oral surgery
- Anesthesia and sedation
- Implant placement
- Facial trauma repair
- Orthognathic surgery
- Imaging interpretation
People (soft) skills
- Precision
- Calm under pressure
- Communication
- Leadership
Tools, equipment and technology
- Surgical instruments
- Cone beam CT
- Implant systems
- Sedation monitors
- Surgical drills
- Practice software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how oral and maxillofacial surgeons put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Oral surgery” and “Anesthesia and sedation.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “precision,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Board certification (ABOMS) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our oral and maxillofacial surgeon glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.