Oral and maxillofacial surgery sits at the crossroads of dentistry and hospital-based medicine. Wisdom-tooth extractions, dental-implant placement, orthognathic jaw correction, and facial-trauma repair all demand a clinician who has finished a four-to-six-year hospital residency after dental school, holds Diplomate status with the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS), and carries an in-office anesthesia permit that follows AAOMS Parameters of Care. Nashville families weighing wisdom-tooth consults for a college-bound teenager, full-arch implant rehabilitation, or corrective jaw surgery should look first to credentialed surgeons with verifiable hospital privileges and a long single-city track record. The three Middle Tennessee groups below meet that bar.
Quick Comparison #
| Firm | Credentials | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| OMS Nashville | Established 1988, largest single-specialty OMFS group in Middle Tennessee, ABOMS Diplomates including Dr. Gregory P. Richardson with Vanderbilt residency. | Third-molar extractions, dental implants and All-on-4, jaw reconstruction, TMJ, facial-trauma repair, oral pathology, sleep apnea correction. |
| Nashville Oral Surgery | Dr. Harry R. (Joe) Mack, DDS, MD, Board Certified OMFS and AAOMS Fellow with hospital privileges at Saint Thomas and Williamson Medical Center. | Wisdom-tooth removal, single-tooth and multi-unit dental implants, bone grafting, impacted canine exposure, facial-trauma management. |
| Tennessee Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | Drs. Culbreath and Haley, both ABOMS Diplomates with Dr. Culbreath holding additional National Dental Board of Anesthesiology Diplomate status. | Dental implants and full-arch reconstruction, corrective jaw surgery, wisdom-tooth removal, facial trauma, TMJ, bone grafting. |
1. OMS Nashville #
Established in 1988, OMS Nashville is the largest single-specialty oral and maxillofacial surgery group in Middle Tennessee, operating from a flagship office on Ashwood Avenue together with satellite locations across Hendersonville, Mt. Juliet, Goodlettsville, Brentwood, Gallatin, Bellevue, Springfield, Columbia, and Franklin. The clinic’s surgeon roster carries a combined seventy-five years of clinical experience and covers the full ABOMS scope: third-molar extractions, dental implants and All-on-4 reconstruction, bone grafting, jaw reconstruction, TMJ disorders, impacted-canine exposure, facial-trauma repair, oral-pathology biopsy, and surgical correction of obstructive sleep apnea.
Vanderbilt-trained surgeon team #
Dr. Gregory P. Richardson, a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, completed his oral-surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident, with additional training at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia. He joined the practice in 1994. Dr. Richardson is also a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and a past President of the Nashville Dental Society (2019 to 2020). His clinical focus covers bone grafting, dental-implant reconstruction, orthognathic surgery, sleep-apnea correction, and wisdom-tooth extraction. The wider surgeon team, including Drs. Daniel C. Burchfield, Bruce C. McLeod, John K. Shea, Kevin D. West, Margaret T. Hamilton, Andy E. Wicke, Joe R. Mort, William R. Cone, and Thomas Bailey, is active in the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS).
Multi-site Middle Tennessee coverage #
Ten surgical offices across Davidson, Sumner, Wilson, Williamson, Robertson, and Maury counties let patients book a consult close to home and, when needed, schedule complex implant or orthognathic cases at the surgeon’s primary Nashville site. The practice runs in-office anesthesia under AAOMS guidance, ranging from local with nitrous oxide through IV moderate sedation and general anesthesia, with pre-operative ASA risk assessment for each patient.
Phone: (615) 620-8030
Address: 2011 Ashwood Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212
2. Nashville Oral Surgery #
Operating since 1988, Nashville Oral Surgery serves Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, and the Cool Springs corridor from two surgical offices. The practice is led by Dr. Harry R. (Joe) Mack, DDS, MD, a Board Certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Fellow of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. The dual DDS plus MD route is the longer six-year residency track, and Dr. Mack pairs it with active hospital privileges at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville and Williamson Medical Center in Franklin, giving him the ability to admit, operate, and follow patients through the hospital setting when a case requires it.
Three-decade single-surgeon continuity #
With more than thirty years of practice in the same Middle Tennessee market, Dr. Mack offers single-surgeon continuity across the patient’s care arc: the patient who books a wisdom-tooth consult and the patient who returns a decade later for an implant case typically see the same surgeon for diagnosis, surgery, and follow-up. Office anesthesia covers IV sedation and general anesthesia, which is the operating standard for impacted third-molar extraction and longer implant procedures.
Implant and oral-surgery scope #
Procedures handled in-house include wisdom-tooth removal, single-tooth and multi-unit dental-implant placement, routine and surgical extractions, bone grafting in preparation for implants, exposure of impacted canines, and facial-aesthetic injectables. Hospital-based cases such as facial-trauma repair and complex pathology are managed through the surgeon’s Saint Thomas and Williamson Medical Center privileges.
Phone: (615) 873-4495
Address: 5802 Nolensville Pike, Suite 103, Nashville, TN 37211
https://www.nashvilleoralsurgery.com/
3. Tennessee Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons #
Tennessee Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons is a two-surgeon group operating from Harding Pike in West Nashville with a second office in Dickson, serving patients across Davidson, Williamson, and Dickson counties. Both partners hold Diplomate status with the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and the office maintains dual board certification in anesthesia through the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology, a credential held by a small minority of oral-surgery offices nationally.
Dual board-certified anesthesia capability #
Dr. Jeffrey L. Culbreath, DDS, completed his four-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia in 2015. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, a Fellow of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and a Diplomate of the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Spencer A. Haley, DDS, completed his advanced postgraduate training in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Tennessee Memphis and the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The separate anesthesia diplomate credential reflects additional training in deep sedation and general anesthesia administration, both of which fall under AAOMS Parameters of Care for office-based oral surgery.
Full-scope clinical services #
The clinic provides the full ABOMS scope: dental-implant placement and full-arch reconstruction, corrective jaw (orthognathic) surgery, wisdom-tooth removal, facial-trauma management, TMJ-disorder evaluation, bone grafting, and treatment of facial pain and oral pathology. The two-surgeon model lets the group keep the personalized character of a smaller office while covering the wide procedure list typically associated with larger groups.
Phone: (615) 829-7000
Address: 4322 Harding Pike, Suite 201, Nashville, TN 37205
https://www.tnoralsurgery.com/
How to choose an oral surgeon in Nashville #
Three signals separate a credentialed oral and maxillofacial surgeon from a general dentist who performs extractions: a four-to-six-year hospital residency after dental school, ABOMS Diplomate status, and an in-office anesthesia permit that allows IV moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia under AAOMS Parameters of Care. Hospital privileges at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Ascension Saint Thomas, or Williamson Medical Center add a fourth signal: it means the surgeon has been credentialed by a hospital quality committee and can take a case from the office to the hospital setting when patient acuity demands it. For implant and orthognathic cases, ask whether the surgeon uses virtual surgical planning (VSP) and cone-beam CT imaging, both of which are now standard for predictable full-arch reconstruction and jaw-correction planning. The three Nashville groups above each clear those bars and have been operating in Middle Tennessee for long enough to be evaluated by track record rather than promise.
Selection Methodology #
Three oral and maxillofacial surgical practices were filtered from the broader Nashville field against working gates: continuous patient-care tenure in Middle Tennessee, ABOMS Diplomate status documented on the named surgeons, a clearly identifiable practice brand and working street address on the office’s own website, and a service catalog that stays inside maxillofacial residency rather than bundling in unrelated procedures. General dentistry offices marketing extraction services without four-to-six-year residency, surgical groups without ABOMS Diplomate leads, and offices without verifiable street addresses were excluded.
Frequently Asked Questions #
Q: How do I verify a Nashville oral and maxillofacial surgery practitioner holds the right credentials?
A: Use the Tennessee Department of Health Board of Dentistry license verification at health.tn.gov, the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Diplomate directory at aboms.org, and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons member directory.
Q: What sets these three apart from the broader Nashville oral and maxillofacial surgery field?
A: ABOMS board certification on top of either the four-year non-degree residency or the six-year MD/DDS dual-degree pathway is the threshold filter, and each surgeon above carries that credential. The further filter is in-office anesthesia permit class (Tennessee Class B versus general anesthesia under AAOMS Parameters of Care), hospital privileges for trauma and reconstructive cases that don’t fit a chair-side setting, and case-mix breadth across third-molar removal, dental implants with grafting, orthognathic correction, and pathology.
Q: Are any of the three practices paid placements?
A: No. The three profiles above are editorial selections drawn from publicly verifiable sources. No practice sponsored placement.
Q: How should I prepare for a first appointment?
A: Confirm in-network status with your insurer, bring photo ID and a list of current medications, request the referring dentist’s chart notes, panoramic radiograph, and any CBCT imaging to be transferred in advance, and request the practice’s published new-patient intake and anesthesia consent forms to streamline the first visit.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.