Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: The Best Specialty You Know Nothing About
By Jaclyn Tomsic
The famous philosopher Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I can say that being an oral and maxillofacial surgeon has made this quote my reality. Oral and maxillofacial surgery, or OMFS, as we are most commonly referred to on hospital wards and in EDs, is an internationally recognized specialty. As defined by AAOMS, The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, oral and maxillofacial surgeons are the experts in face, mouth, and jaw surgery.1 Despite this, few people truly understand what we do. I am here to shed some light.
Let’s break it down for a minute. Oral and maxillofacial surgery. What does that really mean? Oral means mouth. Maxillofacial means jaws and face. Therefore, putting that together, OMF surgeons treat disease, injuries, and defects in the head, neck, and face, including the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions. The scope of OMFS is broad and includes:
- Dentoalveolar surgery – surgery of the teeth-bearing portion of the maxilla and mandible
- Pathology – both benign and malignant pathology of the oral cavity, head, face and neck
- Facial trauma – we treat trauma of the entire facial skeleton including the mandible, maxilla, palate, zygoma, nasal bones, frontal bones as well as the facial soft tissue envelope and associated soft tissue structures
- Orthognathic surgery – a multi-disciplinary surgery intricately planned to achieve facial and dental harmony by purposefully repositioning the maxilla, mandible, and chin as indicated
- Treatment of significant facial infection requiring surgical intervention,
- Temporomandibular joint or TMJ surgery
- Facial cosmetic surgery – including cosmetic facial surgeries as well as non-surgical rejuvenation with Botox and fillers
- Cleft and craniofacial surgery
- Dental implant surgery to replace lost and missing teeth and restore function
As you can see, OMFS covers a lot of ground, and this is one of the things I love most about my specialty: the diversity of procedures I can perform. Now you may also be wondering the steps it takes to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Oral surgery requires completion of undergraduate school, then dental school, followed by a 4-6 year residency program. Many residency programs also include attendance and completion of medical school integrated into the tract. This was the path I chose.
OMFS has historically been a male-dominated field. Statistics in 2016 revealed that although dental schools are comprised of 49% women and 51% men, women comprise only 15% of OMFS residents and 7% of active oral surgeons in practice. Some of the barriers identified include the length of training, lack of mentorship, and lack of exposure and/or understanding of the specialty.2 The good news: statistics overwhelmingly show that oral surgeons are satisfied with their career selection.3
As physicians, being lifelong learners is innate; we are often also hardwired to reinvent ourselves as individuals. I have found passion in increasing the visibility of my amazing specialty and joy in motivating other women to pursue a career in OMFS. Thank you for the opportunity to show you as well!
Jaclyn Tomsic is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon. She attended Boston University for dental school and Wayne State University in Detroit for medical school and residency training. Her education journey took her to many new places: Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, DC, and St. Louis, before returning home to Cleveland, which she feels has have greatly contributed to her personal growth. Having trained and worked in places like Detroit and St. Louis, she gained a strong background in facial trauma, which is one of her favorite surgeries. She also enjoys all things dento-alveolar: third molars, extractions, dental implants, bone grafting, sinus lift surgery, and bone recontouring. Her other clinical interests include orthognathic surgery, benign pathology, TMJ surgery, facial cosmetics, and anesthesia. One aspect of OMFS she enjoys the most is the opportunity to collaborate with her medical and dental colleagues to help treat patients as a whole, as many oral surgeries involve a team approach. She has a passion for fitness, wellness, and daily activity, is an avid sports fan – especially Cleveland sports – and enjoys baking, traveling, and listening to country music. She is a huge advocate for women in surgery and has fun sharing her surgery and life experiences on social media and can be found on instagram at @doctorjacci.