Awareness of oral medicine specialty among medical practitioners in and around Tirupati: A survey

Aims and Objectives: To assess and create awareness of oral medicine specialty among medical practitioners, and to assess the volume of oral medicine clinical cases that they come across in their routine practice and to whom they refer them to. Materials and Methods: Printed and validated questionnaires were given to a sample of 100 medical practitioners of different specialties personally in and around Tirupati and the results were analyzed. Results: Sixty-nine percent of medical practitioners were not aware of oral medicine specialty and only 31% were aware of it. Frequent incidence of oral manifestation of systemic diseases, occasional incidence of facial and TMJ pain, oral mucosal lesions, and rare incidence of salivary gland disorders were noted in their routine practice. Oral manifestation of systemic diseases and oral mucosal lesions were frequently being referred to a general dentist and not to any specific specialty. TMJ and facial pain were referred to an ENT specialist and salivary gland problems to a general surgeon commonly. Conclusion: It is time to reiterate and spread the awareness among the medical professionals about oral medicine speciality in diagnosis and management of many oral ailments. Proper diagnosis and medical management should be the preferred line of therapy for any ailment