The nature of the diseases that oral medicine specialists
diagnose and manage throughout the oral and
maxillofacial region are diverse and closely related to
other dental and medical specialties.
• This relatively young area of dentistry has expanded
globally during the past decade as an independent
discipline with postgraduate qualifying programmes
being offered in several countries, as well as an
increasing research community.
• With a growing proportion of elderly individuals in the
population in general across the world, morbidity is
likely to increase in terms of both general diseases and
conditions in the oral and maxillofacial region. The
types of diseases requiring treatment may also differ in
the future due to a greater influx of immigrants to the
Nordic countries.
• The wide variety of conditions encountered in a dental
practice, as well as variations in the individual patient
presentation and response to treatment, defines the
need for careful evaluation and synthesis of practice
recommendations to provide appropriate and effective
management. The field of oral medicine still lacks clear
guidelines for various conditions and treatments. Thus,
further studies are required to improve patient
healthcare.
• For the discipline of oral medicine, it will be reasonable
to take a greater responsibility for the basic medical
skills in the dental curriculum, as modern oral medicine
is increasingly becoming the intermediate between
oral health care and general medicine.