The Oral Cavity: Portal to Health and Disease

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/oralcavity

Introduction

### Course Review: The Oral Cavity: Portal to Health and Disease If you are a healthcare professional or a student in fields related to medicine or dentistry, "The Oral Cavity: Portal to Health and Disease" on Coursera is a course that you will find both enlightening and essential for your education and practice. This course expertly marries the disciplines of medicine and dentistry, providing a comprehensive understanding of how they intersect in patient care. #### Course Overview The primary focus of this course is on the interprofessional relationship between dentistry and medicine. Each week features presentations from medical specialists who cover specific diseases, followed by dental educators who discuss the oral manifestations and implications of these conditions. This approach enriches the learning experience by emphasizing the importance of collaboration in healthcare. The course seeks to spotlight, through the lens of oral medicine, how medical and dental professionals can work together to manage patient care effectively. This seamless integration of disciplines ensures that participants are not only knowledgeable about individual fields but also equipped to understand the collaborative nature of healthcare. #### Syllabus Breakdown **1. The Interplay Between Medicine and Dentistry** The introduction establishes the essential connections between the two fields, setting the context for the weeks to come. Participants will appreciate the crucial role oral health plays in overall health, opening doors for interdisciplinary discussions. **2. Pain Management: Approaches and Challenges** In the second week, the course dives deep into pain management, particularly in the context of the head and neck. This module tackles various types of pain and discusses diagnostic and treatment modalities, making it especially valuable for those focused on patient comfort and care. **3. Diabetic Patients and Their Care** Week three centers on the complexities of managing diabetic patients. Understanding their specific needs is indispensable for both medical and dental practitioners, and this week provides a thorough approach to treatment and lifestyle management. **4. Endocrine Disorders: Understanding Thyroid Cancer and Osteoporosis** This module expands your knowledge on common endocrine disorders impacting dental management. With nuanced discussions on thyroid cancer and osteoporosis, learners gain insights into these conditions and learn how they influence oral health. **5. Care of Cardiovascular Diseases and Infections** Week five brings attention to cardiovascular diseases. Knowledge of these conditions is critical for any healthcare provider, and understanding their implications in the dental setting can significantly enhance patient safety and treatment outcomes. **6. Dermatologic Conditions of the Oral Cavity** An intriguing exploration of autoimmune reactions in the mouth occurs in week six, focusing on conditions such as lichen planus and pemphigus. This module highlights the necessity of co-management between medical and dental practices. **7. Blood and Bone Marrow Cancers** The complexity of blood and bone marrow cancers poses unique challenges in both diagnosis and treatment. This section will provide essential insights into the role the oral cavity plays in these cancers, making it vital for all healthcare providers involved in care. **8. Understanding Head and Neck Cancers** The final module culminates in a comprehensive overview of head and neck cancers, particularly oral squamous cell carcinoma. This essential knowledge is vital for any medical or dental professional involved in oncology or patient treatment protocols. **Final Exam** The course concludes with an assessment that reinforces the knowledge gained throughout the sessions, ensuring that participants have internalized the material. #### Recommendation "The Oral Cavity: Portal to Health and Disease" is a must-take course for anyone in the healthcare field, particularly those involved in dentistry, surgery, oncology, and internal medicine. The unique structure of the course, paired with insights from both medical and dental specialists, offers a holistic view of patient care that is often missing in traditional healthcare education. This course is not only informative but also applicable, equipping you with the tools to enhance your practice and improve patient outcomes. Highly recommended for its interdisciplinary approach, relevance, and practical applications, this Coursera offering will deepen your understanding of the crucial relationship between oral health and overall wellness. Whether you are looking to bolster your credentials, enhance your clinical practice, or simply expand your knowledge base, enrolling in this course will undeniably be an investment in your professional development.

Syllabus

The Interplay Between Medicine and Dentistry

This course will use the expertise of specialists from both medicine and dentistry to provide perspectives on a wide range of topics that significantly impact both fields. By explaining each field and the ways in which dental and medical specialists work together to manage affected patients, these specialists highlight the interdisciplinary nature of health care today using a particular example each week. In our introductory videos, we introduce the importance of these topics and of the interplay between medicine and dentistry through the lens of the specialty of oral medicine.

In Week 2, we will discuss pain, both as a general concept and as it relates to certain conditions. This will include defining pain and its types, discussing multiple treatment modalities, and explaining some pains specific to the head and neck region. From both an oral medicine and pain management perspective, this difficult topic will be examined and expert diagnosis and treatment opinions will be provided.

Week 3 focuses on diabetes, a very prevalent, but often not well understood disease that materially impacts both medicine and dentistry. Our discussion of this topic will include an in depth description of types of diabetes, treatments and how they differ based on type, and lifestyle management of these patients. It will also deal with dental management of the diabetic patient specifically, including recommendations for how to approach treatment of patients with diabetes.

In week 4, we will continue our discussion of endocrine diseases by covering two other relatively common conditions, thyroid cancer and osteoporosis. Both of these diseases present significant challenges to dental management of patients as well as presenting interesting and difficult medical challenges. For both diseases, the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment will be covered and related to the impact of the disease on dental care and some important negative effects to be aware of in the oral cavity.

This week will review management of cardiac conditions, both generally and specifically in dental medicine. This will include explanations of some of the most prevalent cardiac conditions as well as discussion on the difficulties of treating select patients. This provides a widely applicable but also specific overview of risks to patients generally and in the dental office, management and treatment, and ways that providers and patients can work together to ensure positive outcomes for all.

Week 6 presents an explanation of common dermatologic conditions that can frequently affect the oral cavity. The lectures in this module focus on the three most prevalent autoimmune reactions to occur in the mouth; lichen planus, pemphigoid, and pemphigus. The lectures in this week explain these conditions, comment on some possible treatments, and discuss the importance of co-management between the fields of dentistry and medicine, not to mention some specific examples of interdisciplinary division of treatment.

In this section, we will discuss blood and bone marrow cancers. This is a complex topic and our lectures will explain some of the differences between each type of these cancers in both disease characteristics and management. For management, we will review both traditional and cutting edge modalities used in certain cases. We will also discuss the importance of the oral cavity in both diagnosis and treatment of these cancers. Whether as the first sign of disease, an area affected by treatment, or a potential cause of complications, the oral cavity can truly in leukemia be a portal to health and disease.

Our last section deals with a very serious and important topic, that of cancers of the head and neck region. Our lectures will explain some types of head and neck cancer, but will focus on oral squamous cell carcinoma, the most common of these. We will discuss diagnosis and management of these patients, paying attention to the important role of all providers in cancer while also providing a video of transoral robotic surgery for cancer. In this way, we will address all aspects of oral cancer treatment, from initial diagnosis to thorough treatment.