Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons vs Prosthodontists: $352K vs $311K Median Pay

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons vs Prosthodontists: what changes?

Consider Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons if you want to perform surgery and related procedures on the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions to treat diseases, injuries, or defects. Consider Prosthodontists if you would rather diagnose, treat, rehabilitate, design, and fit prostheses that maintain oral function, health, and appearance for patients with clinical conditions associated with teeth, oral and maxillofacial tissues, or the…. Both list doctoral or professional degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and Prosthodontists. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

National median pay (2025): $352,220
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Administer general and local anesthetics.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 200

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons brief

Prosthodontists

National median pay (2025): $311,180
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Examine patients to diagnose oral health conditions and diseases.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 0

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Prosthodontists brief

How the national numbers differ

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has the edge on annual openings

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons is at 200 annual openings, compared with 0 annual openings for Prosthodontists.

Prosthodontists has the edge on projected growth

Prosthodontists is at 5.8% projected growth, compared with 5.6% projected growth for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has the edge on median pay

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons is at $352,220, compared with $311,180 for Prosthodontists.

50.8/ 100

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

50.2/ 100

Prosthodontists

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons vs Prosthodontists

Dimension	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	Prosthodontists
Median pay (2025)	$352,220	$311,180
Pay percentile	99.7 percentile	99.1 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	5.6%	5.8%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	200	0
2025 employment	5,600	1,000
How you qualify	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons brief Read Prosthodontists brief

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons vs Prosthodontists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

Prosthodontists

How the national numbers differ

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has the edge on annual openings

Prosthodontists has the edge on projected growth

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons has the edge on median pay

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons vs Prosthodontists

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