Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Also called: DDS (Dental Surgery Doctor), Maxillofacial Surgeon, Oral Surgeon, SurgeonPerform surgery and related procedures on the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions to treat diseases, injuries, or defects. May diagnose problems of the oral and maxillofacial regions. May perform surgery to improve function or appearance.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 2 of its 14 rated tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 5.6% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 1.0% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Dentists”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 99% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.0 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | 130 |
| Alaska | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | 40 |
| Arizona | $322,800 | $120,900 to $388,130 | not published |
| California | not published | not published | 670 |
| Colorado | $360,820 | $161,720 to $360,820 | not published |
| Florida | $233,050 | $139,570 to $289,680 | not published |
| Georgia | $129,010 | $41,720 to $136,000 | 180 |
| Illinois | $70,220 | $63,930 to $323,440 | not published |
| Indiana | not published | not published | 70 |
| Iowa | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | not published |
| Michigan | $97,040 | $80,440 to $473,340 | 50 |
| Minnesota | $475,250 | $76,890 to $475,250 | 40 |
| New Hampshire | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | not published |
| New York | $342,710 | $164,890 to $392,410 | 350 |
| North Carolina | $224,040 | $206,760 to $497,840 | not published |
| North Dakota | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | not published |
| Pennsylvania | $553,740 | $364,860 to $575,640 | not published |
| Rhode Island | $414,060 | $377,990 to $416,200 | not published |
| South Carolina | $239,200 or more | $239,200 or more to $239,200 or more | not published |
| South Dakota | not published | not published | 40 |
| Tennessee | not published | not published | 50 |
| Virginia | $403,430 | $268,220 to $414,910 | 210 |
Nationally: $352,220. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 2 of its 14 rated tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Administer general and local anesthetics. | Not published |
| Not much | Remove impacted, damaged, and non-restorable teeth. | Not published |
| AI + software | Evaluate the position of the wisdom teeth to determine whether problems exist currently or might occur in the future. | Not published |
| Not much | Treat infections of the oral cavity, salivary glands, jaws, and neck. | Not published |
| AI + software | Collaborate with other professionals, such as restorative dentists and orthodontists, to plan treatment. | Not published |
| Not much | Perform surgery to prepare the mouth for dental implants and to aid in the regeneration of deficient bone and gum tissues. | Not published |
See all 15 tasks
| Not much | Remove tumors and other abnormal growths of the oral and facial regions, using surgical instruments. | Not published |
| Not much | Provide emergency treatment of facial injuries including facial lacerations, intra-oral lacerations, and fractured facial bones. | Not published |
| Not much | Treat problems affecting the oral mucosa, such as mouth ulcers and infections. | Not published |
| Not much | Perform surgery on the mouth and jaws to treat conditions such as cleft lip, cleft palate, and jaw growth problems. | Not published |
| Not rated | Evaluate and treat problems related to the temperomandibular joint (TMJ). | Not published |
| Not much | Restore form and function by moving skin, bone, nerves, and other tissues from other parts of the body to reconstruct the jaws and face. | Not published |
| Not much | Perform minor cosmetic procedures, such as chin and cheekbone enhancements. | Not published |
| Not much | Perform minor facial rejuvenation procedures, including the use of Botox and laser technology. | Not published |
| Not much | Treat snoring problems, using laser surgery. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 0 of the 15 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 15 tasks fall under 6 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treat injuries, illnesses, or diseases | |||
| Analyze health or medical data | |||
| Evaluate patient or client condition or treatment options | |||
| Administer basic health care or medical treatments | |||
| Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care | |||
| Administer emergency medical treatment |
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for oral and maxillofacial surgeons specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved in from
of 363 moves in
- 1 Receptionists and Information Clerks Very high -1.7% 20%
- 2 Dental Assistants Low +7.4% 18%
- 3 Office Clerks, General Very high -6.0% 5%
- 4 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Moderate +3.8% 5%
- 5 Medical Assistants Moderate +12.9% 5%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 8% professional doctorate
- 20% research doctorate
- 72% post-doctoral training
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 20 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 3% master's
- 71% professional degree
- 26% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Dentists” · 2,084 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Dentists”
1 program: Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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