Oral Medicine

Infections of the mouth and teeth can often grow, if untreated, to affect the face, ears and nose. Similarly, viruses and diseases can often causes complications that affect the mouth and other aspects of the body. In the same way, problems with the jaw joints can have implications for other areas of the body. Therefore, there comes a point where dental expertise and medical expertise interlink. This interlinking point is the discipline known as Oral Medicine.

Oral Medicine is a discipline that is becoming more influentail in the treatment of certain types of condition. For the most part, Oral Medicine concentrates on conditions that can be treated without resorting to surgery. This can include orofacial pain, pain resulting from temporomandibular disorders and issues such as lesions and dry mouth syndromes, which can be side effects of other conditions such as cancers.

What does the job involve?

The majority of oral medicine consultants work in dental medical schools. A significant proportion of their time is spent with patients, diagnosing, managing and treating a wide range of conditions and disorders. On occasions, an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon may be called upon to provide some surgical work. But the majority of cases that are dealt with by Oral Medicine consultants involve non-surgical, non-invasive techniques for treatment, such as performing tests, making diagnoses, offering advice on managing conditions and discussing potential problem areas in terms of lifestyle, diet and so on.

What qualifications do you need?

As Oral Medicine consultants work at the linking point between dentistry and medicine, they need to be highly qualified in both fields. Most consultants will have begun their professional careers as qualified and registered dentists. However, as their interest in Oral Medicine as a specialism developed, they will also have gained significant post-graduate clinical experience, recognised training and a medical qualification such as Diploma in Membership of Oral Medicine.

What are the career prospects?

As the majority of Oral Medicine consultants are based in dental schools, their duties usually encompass some research and teaching, as well as practical care of patients. Therefore, they are able to build a broad range of skills which means that their career can develop along a number of different paths and directions.

As they develop such a broad base of skills, many Oral Medicine consultants find that they have the perfect platform from which to develop a senior level career in hospital management or health administration.