This course will use the expertise of specialists from both medicine and dentistry to provide perspectives on a wide range of topics that significantly impact both fields. By explaining each field and the ways in which dental and medical specialists work together to manage affected patients, these specialists highlight the interdisciplinary nature of health care today using a particular example each week. In our introductory videos, we introduce the importance of these topics and of the interplay between medicine and dentistry through the lens of the specialty of oral medicine.

In Week 2, we will discuss pain, both as a general concept and as it relates to certain conditions. This will include defining pain and its types, discussing multiple treatment modalities, and explaining some pains specific to the head and neck region. From both an oral medicine and pain management perspective, this difficult topic will be examined and expert diagnosis and treatment opinions will be provided.

Week 3 focuses on diabetes, a very prevalent, but often not well understood disease that materially impacts both medicine and dentistry. Our discussion of this topic will include an in depth description of types of diabetes, treatments and how they differ based on type, and lifestyle management of these patients. It will also deal with dental management of the diabetic patient specifically, including recommendations for how to approach treatment of patients with diabetes.

In week 4, we will continue our discussion of endocrine diseases by covering two other relatively common conditions, thyroid cancer and osteoporosis. Both of these diseases present significant challenges to dental management of patients as well as presenting interesting and difficult medical challenges. For both diseases, the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment will be covered and related to the impact of the disease on dental care and some important negative effects to be aware of in the oral cavity.