Past and future perspectives of oral medicine in the Nordic countries as a reflection of the global community

Abstract

Headlines 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.