Relevance date: These instructions will apply to the National Dental Specialty Examination (NDSE) conducted beginning in 2011. See the RCDC website for instructions for examinations conducted on earlier or later dates.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Canada

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is that branch and specialty of dentistry which is concerned with and includes the diagnosis, surgical and adjunctive treatment of disorders, diseases, injuries and defects, involving the functional and aesthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial regions and related structures.
 

Examination Structure

COMPONENT I: Written Examination

The written examination may consist of any combination of essay, short-answer or multiple choice questions. Topics will include the following basic sciences and their clinical application to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery:

Paper I Anatomy and Pathology

Paper II Physiology and Pharmacology

Successful completion of the written component (usually five to six months before the oral) is required to qualify for the oral examination component.

COMPONENT 2: Three Oral Examinations

The oral examination component is composed of three (3) sections of approximately ninety minutes each, during which all phases of major and minor oral and maxillofacial surgical practice will be covered. The three (3) oral examinations cover the following areas:

Oral Examination 1: SURGERY A
 

90 minutes duration
 

The candidate must demonstrate the ability to assess, treat, and understand probable outcomes in the following categories:
• Orthognathic and reconstructive surgery
• Temporomandibular disorders
• Fundamentals of Cleft Deformities and Craniofacial Anomalies/Abnormalities
• Fundamentals of Cosmetic Surgery

Oral Examination 2: SURGERY B

90 minutes duration
 

The candidate must demonstrate the ability to assess, treat, and understand probable outcomes in the following categories:
• Trauma
• Dentoalveolar surgery
• Oral Preprosthetic and Implant Surgery
• Fundamentals of Craniomaxillofacial Preprosthetic Surgery

Oral Examination 3: SURGERY C

90 minutes duration
 

The candidate must demonstrate the ability to assess, treat, and understand probable outcomes in the following categories:
• Anesthesia and Sedation
• Medically Compromised Patient
• Pathology (including Histopathology)
• Therapeutics

• Orthognathic Surgery

• Temporomandibular Disorders

• Cleft Lip and Palate; Cranial Facial Syndromes

• Cosmetic Surgery

• Anesthesia
 

• Medicine

• Pathology
 

• Dentoalveolar

• Preprosthetic

• Trauma

• Reconstruction