Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery is a specialty of dentistry concerned with the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital or acquired diseases, dysfunction, defects or injuries of the mouth, jaws and associated regions. Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery deals with e.g. extractions of teeth, surgical exposure or removal of impacted teeth, oro-facial infections, cysts, tumors and other oral pathologic lesions, facial pain, oral and maxillofacial trauma, implant surgery, orthognathic surgery, reconstructions of jaw defects and temporo-mandibular joint surgery. The discipline of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery focuses its teaching for the undergraduate dental students on management of such Oral Maxillofacial Surgery conditions that they will meet later as general practitioners. They are trained to be able to examine, diagnose, manage, treat or refer such patients. They are also trained to recognize and be able to handle medically compromised patients. They train to do routine dento-alvoelar surgery by performing surgery on their own patients and by assisting specialists in theatre surgery.
Periodontology is the science and teaching of anatomy, physiology and pathology of the supporting tissues of teeth namely gingiva, cementum, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone and the etiology and treatment of diseases within these tissues. The periodontal diseases may be classified into two broad categories, gingival diseases and periodontal diseases. Gingival disease or gingivitis – is defined as inflammation of the gingiva and it is in general a reversible condition. Periodontal disease or periodontitis, exists in several forms, but a general definition describes the disease as inflammation of the periodontal tissues leading to loss of alveolar bone and connective tissue.
The Discipline of Periodontology is a specialty within dentistry. The undergraduate teaching intends to educate the student in basic aspects of anatomy, physiology, pathology and etiology of periodontal diseases and their consequences to the patient, thereby qualifying him/her as a general practitioner to recognize, diagnose and treat moderate versions of the disease and refer more complicated cases to qualified specialists. Periodontal treatment procedures for undergraduate students include patient motivation and education in oral hygiene procedures and general supra and subgingival debridement of teeth as well as simple surgical procedures. Periodontal specialist treatment procedures include advanced periodontal surgery, bone surgery and bone grafting, implant placement, muco-gingival plastic surgery and more.
Anesthesiology is the discipline in dentistry that manages pain and anxiety through the use of local anesthesia, sedation, and general anesthesia. The discipline of anesthesiology educates students in the managements of pain, fear and anxiety associated with dental treatments. The discipline also teaches the didactic principles and clinical competencies of pain and anxiety-control techniques to dental students. Included in this are methods of pre-operative evaluation, the pharmacology of pain and anxiety-control agents, the clinical administration of these drugs, and the management of medical emergencies that may occur spontaneously or as a direct result of drug administration.