Answer:
The question which is often asked is: What is the difference between an "oral surgeon" and an "oral and maxillofacial surgeon"?
The quick answer is that there really isn't a difference, oral surgeon just rolls off the tongue a little easier than the later. Unfortunately, what we sacrifice in that efficient remark is understanding on the part of our patients and other professionals. The official specialty is titled Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS). Oral, being the tissues related to the mouth, and Maxillofacial, being the soft and hard tissues related to and surrounding the jaws and face. This involves surgical correction of diseases such as infections, tumors, metabolic changes, autoimmune, developmental, etc, pertaining to the mouth and face.
Oral surgery involves also simple procedures like some extractions that could be performed by a general dentist.