Endodontics, Periodontics, Orthodontics

All three disciplines enhance an individual’s oral and dental health, albeit involved in different parts of the oral cavity. Endodontics manages the tooth’s inner components comprising the pulp, root, and nerves, as well as tooth infections or complaints. Periodontics caters to the tooth’s supportive structures, such as the supporting ligaments, the bone into which the tooth is rooted, and the gums. Both endo- and peri-odontics attend to tooth decay, infections, and loss and their prevention. And orthodontics is the dental practice of implementing tools such as braces to align a patient’s jaw or bite correctly.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Oral and Maxillofacial surgery tends to multifarious ailments, injuries, and defects of the head, neck, face, jaw, and mouth. They include the jaw’s bones, tissues, lower face, palate, and teeth. The extent of surgery encompasses treating mild oral disease, incorporating dental implants, extracting teeth, bone grafting, correcting congenital deformities such as the cleft palate, and treating facial trauma such as fractures or damaged tissue.

Dentoalveolar Surgery/ Implantology and Jaw Reconstruction

Dentoalveolar surgery is a specialized form of dental surgery that deals exclusively with predicaments of the alveolar bone, the thickened bone ridge containing the tooth sockets and supporting the teeth. This surgery corrects and eases issues in structures at or below the gum line, like the root of the tooth, gums, and jawbone. Implantology or dental implant surgery procedures replace damaged teeth with artificial implants and roots with metal or other implants. The jaw can be realigned or adjusted through jaw reconstruction or orthognathic surgery, a procedure that corrects and enhances the working of jaws.

Craniofacial Growth and Development

Craniofacial development is highly coordinated under stringent genetic control and environmental influences. Understanding the core concepts of growth and development of the craniofacial skeleton and the impact of treatment on growth potential is vital to successful patient management. Proper sequencing and timing of interventions are critical to maximize outcomes and minimize iatrogenic consequences. A thorough appreciation of craniofacial growth’s sequence, timing, magnitude, and differential expression is essential for the optimal timing of various orthodontic and surgical interventions for addressing transverse, anteroposterior, and vertical discrepancies.

Congenital Craniofacial Malformations

Congenital craniofacial abnormalities are an assortment of birth deformities brought on by faulty bone and soft-tissue development and growth in the head and face. Multiple factors, including genetic combinations, environmental factors, and even folic acid deficiency, effectuate these deformities. The most common malformations comprise the cleft lip and cleft palate, Hemifacial macrosomia, Hemangioma, Vascular malformation, Craniosynostosis, and Deformational (or positional) plagiocephaly.

TMJ Disorders

Disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the sliding hinge connecting the jawbone to the skull on each side of the jaw, cause pain in the jaw joints and muscles controlling jaw movements. More than 30 conditions have been reported of TMD morbidity, with prime symptoms being pain and dysfunction. Precise etiology is difficult to determine for these disorders, which may be a combination of various factors like arthritis, jaw injury, or genetics.

Head and Neck Ontology

Also known as Otolaryngology, head and neck ontology refers to the medical field inclined toward the ears, nose, and throat. This field trains professionals in all aspects of the head, neck, ear, nose, and throat, including medicine and surgery. This discipline deals with minor issues of infections and allergies of the ear, nose, and throat, as well as acute diseases such as congenital malformations, cranial nerve disorders, and cancer in the neck and head.

Clinical Oral Biology and Translational Research

Clinical Oral Biology is the study and therapy of oral and dental problems. The field incorporates several novel ways to manage, cure or prevent ailments or developmental malformations. Poor oral health may indicate local distress in the oral cavity or systemic diseases such as blood infections, diabetes, or osteoporosis. Translational research aids in implementing theoretical knowledge into clinical practices through extensive clinical studies.

Biomaterials in Dentistry

Biomaterials serve a prominent role in engineering functional tissue replacements as supports for cell adhesion, vehicles for cell transplantation, and systems for controlled drug delivery. Biomaterials are manufactured through techniques like nanotechnology, tissue engineering, and self-assembly systems that lend a cutting edge to the dental applications of curing, bonding, and composites.

Interventional Studies on Oral Health

Long-term clinical trials leading to qualitative intervention methods in enhancing oral health are imperative for a more significant impact on bettering oral hygiene habits in society. Also, dissemination of oral health and hygiene through these intervention programs raises essential oral hygiene, knowledge, and awareness that ensures long-term positive oral health and hygiene.