Oral Pathology

Oral Pathology is the area of Dentistry that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies that affect hard tissues such as teeth and jaw bones and soft tissues where the gums, mucous membranes, tongue and lips of the oral cavity are included.
When a suspected lesion is observed, its biopsy may be advised, allowing a concrete diagnosis.
Oral lesions should be given special attention by the dentist as they may constitute local entities or correspond to manifestations of systemic diseases, presenting multiple causes, namely reactional, infectious, immunological, neoplastic or hereditary.
Most oral cavity lesions have a traumatic origin, reflecting a reaction of tissues to aggressive agents, whether mechanical, physical, chemical or thermal. Fibrous hyperplasia, traumatic ulcerations, burns, amalgam tattoos or exfoliative queillitis are some examples of this type of lesions.