What is oral medicine?

Oral medicine is the comprehensive diagnosis of chronic, recurrent and medically related disorders of the oral and maxillofacial region.

To this effect, Dr van Heerden is concerned with the diagnosis and non-surgical management of non-dental diseases such as oral lichen planus, Behçet’s disease and pemphigus vulgaris. He is also involved in the diagnosis and follow-up of pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity like leukoplakia or erythroplakia. In the diagnosis of oral cancer, patients are referred to a surgeon for surgical management if necessary.

In addition Dr van Heerden performs clinical diagnosis of dry mouth conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome and non-dental chronic orofacial pain conditions, such as burning mouth syndrome, trigeminal neuralgia and temporomandibular joint disorder.

For any queries regarding oral medicine or to book a specialist consultation, please contact the surgery.