Patient Resources


What is Oral Medicine?

Oral Medicine experts work at the intersection of dentistry and medicine. The field is often viewed as a non-surgical dental specialty that includes diagnosis, physical evaluation, and therapeutic management of medically related oral disorders.

Oral medicine specialists treat a wide variety of conditions of the face and oral cavity including oral mucosal diseases, orofacial pain conditions, temporomandibular disorders (TMJ/TMD), disorders of the salivary glands and dry mouth, oral complications related to cancer treatments, and may also provide dental care for patients with complex medical problems.

Patients are often referred from throughout the healthcare system by practitioners in various fields, including:

  • General dentistry
  • Dental specialties
  • Primary care medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Dermatology
  • Otorhinolargyngology (ENT)
  • Neurology
  • Rheumatology
  • Ophthalmology
  • Oncology
  • Radiation Oncology

Locate a Care Provider or Specialist Near You

To find one of our Oral Medicine expert doctors, please use our Find a Doctor feature.

For more in-depth resources on Oral Medicine conditions, consult our Oral Medicine Condition Information section.