Oral medicine is the specialty of dentistry that is concerned with the oral health care of medically compromised patients and with the diagnosis and nonsurgical management of medically related disorders or conditions affecting the oral and maxillofacial region.

Oral medicine specialists are concerned with the non surgical medical aspects of dentistry. These specialists are involved in the primary diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases that do not respond to conventional dental or maxillofacial surgical procedures. The practice of oral medicine will provide optimal health to all people through the diagnosis and management of oral diseases.

Radiography is a highly technical field, indispensable to the modern dental practice, but presenting many potential hazards. The dental radiographic specialist must be thoroughly familiar with the procedures necessary to produce radiographs of diagnostic quality. He must also have a thorough knowledge of the hazards associated with the use of radiation and how to protect himself and the patient against those hazards. This lesson deals with the production, characteristics, and effects of radiation and how it may be used safely in dentistry.