An accurate system for predicting the survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) will be useful for selecting appropriate therapies. A nomogram for predicting survival was constructed from 96 patients with primary OSCC who underwent surgical resection between January 1994 and June 2003 at the Yonsei Dental Hospital in Seoul, Korea. We performed univariate and multivariate Cox regression to identify survival prognostic factors. For the early stage patients group, the nomogram was able to predict the 5 and 10 year survival from OSCC with a concordance index of 0.72. The total point assigned by the nomogram was a significant factor for predicting survival. This nomogram was able to accurately predict the survival after treatment of an individual patient with OSCC and may have practical utility for deciding adjuvant treatment.