Oral Medicine

Oral medicine is a subject that bridges the traditional areas of health between dentistry and medicine. Oral medicine is defined as “the subject placed at the interface between medicine and dentistry and is concerned with the diagnosis and management of pathology affecting the oral and maxillofacial region.”

Practitioners provide clinical care to patients with a wide variety of orofacial conditions, including

  • Oral mucosal diseases, eg. lichen planus, aphthous ulceration
  • Oral cancer
  • Salivary gland disorders, eg xerostomia ( reduced saliva production)
  • Oral manifestations of systemic diseases. eg .lupus erythematosus, pemphigus Vulgaris, or Crohn’s disease.
Aphthous Ulceration
Aphthous Ulceration
Fibroepithelial Polyp
Fibroepithelial Polyp
Lichen Planus
Lichen Planus
Oral Cancer
Oral Cancer
Geographic Tongue
Geographic Tongue

There is a growing need to implement this specialty globally: due to the rapid progress in both medicine and dentistry, and to the growing percentage of senior citizens in many countries, the adequate diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases will become even more complex in the future.

Treatments Available:

Dr. O’Beirne diagnoses and treats lesions of the oral cavity (mouth) by clinical examination, radiograph (x-ray), and Biopsy.

“Healing severe or chronic pain, I believe, includes transforming our relationship to the pain, and, ultimately, it is about transforming our relationship to who we are and to life.”

Sarah Anne Shockley

The Pain Companion: Practical Tools for Living With & Moving Beyond Chronic Pain