ABAOMS arose from an original common interest group called UTOMS; the University Teachers of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. UTOMS developed in the 1980s as a special interest group in the UK Dental Schools. It was UTOMS who developed the original AACOMS programme in OMFS; the prototypical UK scheme combining academic and clinical training.

This scheme is now acknowledged as the origin of the Walport scheme in clinical academic medicine and surgery. As the discipline grew it became clear that the name no longer reflected the mission of the organisation and ABAOMS was established in 2004; recognising the three inter-related key interests of its membership, i.e. teaching, research and clinical practice.