Specialists in Oral Surgery will spend much of their time dealing with the surgical aspects of patient care that are beyond the remit of general denal practice and, depending upon where a particular specialist works, may involve:

• complex dental extractions
• apical surgery
• implant placement
• dealing with minor trauma, carried out under local anaesthetic with or without sedation in a primary care setting
• dealing with more complex patientes or major surgery requiring general anaesthetic in the hospital service.

It is a surgical specialty that works closely with general dental practitioners and other specialists in both medicine and dentistry.  It has close ties with oral and maxillofacial surgery, but does not require a medical degree.