Surgeon Spotlight – Daniel Szalay, DDS and David Szalay, DDS, MD

Daniel Szalay, DDS, and David Szalay, DDS, MD, are board certified oral surgeons with Austin Oral Surgery, a USOSM partner practice with 12 locations throughout Central Texas. The brothers practice out of different locations, roughly 27 miles apart – Daniel out of South Austin and David out of Pflugerville – but they consult on surgeries together, on occasion.

“Certain procedures benefit from having more than one surgeon, and we’ve had the chance to work together on several of those cases,” says Daniel. “It’s nice to be able to help each other that way, to bounce ideas off each other and work together to address patients’ needs.”

David explains further: “My brother and I went to separate, but equally renowned, residency programs and trained under different prominent surgeons. So, we both acquired our own unique set of knowledge and skills, which we now get to share. It’s neat to see how we approach things differently, to learn from and complement each other as surgeons. Working with my brother is always fun and interesting. We get to help people together, and that’s something we’re both very passionate about.”

The brothers Szalay were born in Budapest, Hungary, and moved to Austin with their family when they were 7 and 3. Raised in Austin, the brothers had a close family friend who was a local dentist, which helped influence their career paths. The brothers were both dedicated to helping people and worked as dental assistants during college, attending and graduating from UT at the top of their classes. Daniel graduated first, since he was older, and decided to study genetics before going to dental school. This meant both boys were ready to begin dental school at the same time.

“Independently, we both chose Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, which is one of the best dental schools nationwide,” recalls David. “We sat next to each other in class, helped each other study, and were always a little bit competitive – pushing each other to work harder and be better. We both decided we enjoyed the challenges OMS provides and decided to apply for oral surgery residency programs. We graduated from dental school together at the top of our class and then went off to separate residency programs.”

After residency, the brothers were recruited separately by Austin Oral Surgery. Each one can provide a full scope of OMS treatments, including orthognathic surgery, treating TMJ disorders, dental implants, wisdom teeth removal, bone grafting, facial reconstruction and more. Contact them at: daniel.szalay@austinoms.com and david.szalay@austinoms.com.