How does an oral and maxillofacial surgeon differ from a plastic surgeon?

Different training: Most maxillofacial surgeons have gone through fetal school with a small minority also completing medical school. Plastic surgeons go through medical school. In many instances, these specialties will work together on comes cases.

More Training: An oral and maxillofacial suegeon has focused training from anywhere from 4-6 years depending on the program. This is entirely focused around the face, head and neck. A plastic surgeon usually trains for 3 years after a general surgery residency and focuses on the entire body. Plastic surgeons are very well trained overall, but oral and maxillofacial surgeons are the experts on the face.

Different training: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons start in dental school and plastic surgeons start in medical school. At the end of the day, the individual surgeon varies in qualify and expertise more than the classification really does. Some maxillofacial surgeons just pull out molars all day. Some plastic surgeons do very little aesthetic work. These variations are important for the potential patient to assess.