The oral medicine clinic--what is its role?

The total number of new patients seen over a period of 12 months in an oral medicine department was 963. Of these 587 were seen by an oral physician, 168 by a liaison psychiatrist, 137 by an oral immunologist and 71 by a dermatologist with a special interest in diseases of the mouth. The broad categories of disease seen were: 364 with orofacial pain of non-dental origin; 263 with benign diseases of the oral mucosa; 149 with potentially malignant lesions, six with frank carcinomas; 100 with oral manifestations of a systemic disease; and 81 patients with conditions considered to be normal.