Oral medicine is the dental Speciality placed at the interface between both
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and
dentistryDentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw , the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology...
.
Oral medicine is concerned with diagnosis and non-surgical management of (non-dental) pathology affecting the oral and maxillofacial region (e.g.,
oral lichen planusMucosal lichen planus is an inflammatory auto-immune disease that affects oral mucosa, with or without the involvement of the skin and other mucous membranes.-Epidemiology:...
,
Behçet's diseaseBehçet disease is a form of vasculitis that can lead to ulceration and other lesions. It can be interpreted as a chronic disturbance in the body’s immune system...
,
pemphigus vulgarisPemphigus vulgaris is a chronic blistering skin disease with skin lesions that are rarely pruritic, but which are often painful.An autoimmune disease, it arises most often in middle-aged or older people, usually starting with a blister that ruptures easily. The lesions can become quite extensive...
). Moreover, it often involves the diagnosis and follow-up of pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity (e.g.,
leukoplakiaLeukoplakia is adherent white plaques or patches on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, including the tongue. The clinical appearance is highly variable. Leukoplakia is not a specific disease entity, but is diagnosis of exclusion...
,
erythroplakiaErythroplakia is a flat red patch or lesion in the mouth that cannot be attributed to any other pathology.A similar term is "erythroplasia", which has a papular appearance.- Diagnosis and associated conditions :...
). Another aspect of the Speciality is managing the oral condition of medically compromised patients (e.g.
Oral medicine is the dental Speciality placed at the interface between both
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and
dentistryDentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw , the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology...
.
Scope
Oral medicine is concerned with diagnosis and non-surgical management of (non-dental) pathology affecting the oral and maxillofacial region (e.g.,
oral lichen planusMucosal lichen planus is an inflammatory auto-immune disease that affects oral mucosa, with or without the involvement of the skin and other mucous membranes.-Epidemiology:...
,
Behçet's diseaseBehçet disease is a form of vasculitis that can lead to ulceration and other lesions. It can be interpreted as a chronic disturbance in the body’s immune system...
,
pemphigus vulgarisPemphigus vulgaris is a chronic blistering skin disease with skin lesions that are rarely pruritic, but which are often painful.An autoimmune disease, it arises most often in middle-aged or older people, usually starting with a blister that ruptures easily. The lesions can become quite extensive...
). Moreover, it often involves the diagnosis and follow-up of pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity (e.g.,
leukoplakiaLeukoplakia is adherent white plaques or patches on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, including the tongue. The clinical appearance is highly variable. Leukoplakia is not a specific disease entity, but is diagnosis of exclusion...
,
erythroplakiaErythroplakia is a flat red patch or lesion in the mouth that cannot be attributed to any other pathology.A similar term is "erythroplasia", which has a papular appearance.- Diagnosis and associated conditions :...
). Another aspect of the Speciality is managing the oral condition of medically compromised patients (e.g. cancer patients who suffer from related oral
mucositisMucositis is the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract, usually as an adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for cancer. Mucositis can occur anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract, but oral mucositis refers to the particular...
,
bisphosphonateIn pharmacology, bisphosphonates are a class of drugs that prevent the loss of bone mass, used to treat osteoporosis and similar diseases....
-related osteonecrosis of the jaws or oral pathology related to
radiation therapyRadiation therapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells . Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment...
). Additionally, it is involved in the diagnosis and management of dry mouth conditions such as
Sjögren's syndromeSjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disorder in which immune cells attack and destroy the exocrine glands that produce tears and saliva....
and non-dental chronic orofacial pain conditions (e.g., burning mouth syndrome,
trigeminal neuralgiaSee also: Atypical trigeminal neuralgiaTrigeminal neuralgia , "The Suicide Disease" or tic douloureux is a neuropathic disorder of one or both of the facial trigeminal nerves. It causes episodes of intense pain in any or all of the following: the ear, eye, lips, nose, scalp, forehead, teeth or jaw...
and
temporomandibular jointThe temporomandibular joint is the joint of the jaw and is frequently referred to as TMJ. There are two TMJs, one on either side, working in unison. The name is derived from the two bones which form the joint: the upper temporal bone which is part of the cranium , and the lower jaw bone called the...
dysfunction.)
The main facets of Oral Medicine are:
- Clinical care
- Research
Research can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
- Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching
Training and Practise
Many oral medicine specialists have dual qualification with both primary medical and dental degrees. Currently there are 15 units in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, mainly based within the dental teaching hospitals, with around 30 Consultants practising.
Resources