Oral medicine
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Oral medicine is the dental specialty placed at the interface between medicine and dentistry.
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[edit] Scope
Oral medicine is concerned with clinical diagnosis and non-surgical management of non-dental pathologies affecting the oral and maxillofacial region, such as oral lichen planus, Behçet's disease and pemphigus vulgaris. Moreover, it often involves the diagnosis and follow-up of pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity, like leukoplakia or erythroplakia.[1] Another aspect of the field is managing the dental and oral condition of medically compromised patients. For example, cancer patients who suffer from related oral mucositis, bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws or oral pathology related to radiation therapy. Additionally, it is involved in the clinical diagnosis and management of dry mouth conditions, such as Sjögren's syndrome, and non-dental chronic orofacial pain conditions, such as burning mouth syndrome, trigeminal neuralgia and temporomandibular joint disorder.
The main facets of oral medicine are:
- Clinical care
- Research
- Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching
[edit] Training and practise
[edit] USA
The American Dental Association (CODA) accredited programs are a minimum of two years in length.
[edit] Australia/New Zealand
Australian programs are accredited by the Australian Dental Council (ADC) and are 3 years in length and culminate with either a Master degree (MDS) or a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry degree (DClinDent). Fellowship can then be obtained with the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, FRACDS (Oral Med) and or the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, FRCP. New Zealand has traditionally followed the UK system of dual training (dentistry and medicine) as a requisite for specialty practice; the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry currently offers a 5-year intercalated clinical doctorate/medical degree (DClinDent/MBChB) program.
[edit] Canada
Canadian programs are accredited by the (CDAC) and are a minimum of two years in length and usually culminate with a master (MSc or MDent) degree. Graduates are then eligible to sit for the Fellowship exams with the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (FRCD (C)).
[edit] UK
Most UK oral medicine specialists have dual qualification with both primary medical and dental degrees. Specialist training currently consists of a 3 to 5 year programme, with many undertaking a PhD or MD in addition to their basic training. Currently there are 15 oral medicine units within the United Kingdom, mainly based within the dental teaching hospitals, with around 30 consultants practising.
[edit] References
- ^ Zadik, Yehuda; Orbach Hadas; Panzok Amy; Smith Yoav; Czerninski Rakefet (2011). "Evaluation of oral mucosal diseases: inter- and intra-observer analyses". J Oral Pathol Med. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0714.2011.01070.x. PMID 21883487. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0714.2011.01070.x/abstract. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
