The ADA’s National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards has approved a resolution recognizing oral medicine as a dental specialty, following the American Academy of Oral Medicine’s (AAOM) application for such recognition.
“Specialty recognition of oral medicine will improve awareness of and access to quality care, advance interprofessional healthcare, and improve the importance or oral medicine education in dental schools and foster increased interest in pursuing oral medicine residency programs,” said Eric T. Stoopler, DMD, AAOM immediate past president.
Also, Stoopler said, specialty recognition will increase access to funding opportunities for clinical-scientists to expand the breadth of oral medicine-related research to improve the human condition.
The AAOM defines oral medicine as the discipline of dentistry concerned with the oral healthcare of medically complex patients, including the diagnosis and management of medical conditions that affect the oral and maxillofacial region.
Oral medicine joins 10 other ADA-recognized specialties, including dental anesthesiology, dental public health, endodontics, oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics.
“As an integral component of modern dental education and clinical care, oral medicine has been an emerging specialty in the US for the past 75 years. Now, oral medicine will join its peers as an ADA-recognized specialty in the US,” said Stoopler.
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