Commitment to oral biology: prescription for a new age in dental education

Oral biology is a legitimate biomedical discipline of fundamental importance to dental education, but its incorporation into undergraduate dental education is proceeding too slowly, especially considering the changing conditions of dental practice. Widespread adoption of oral biology into dental curricula will enhance the biological orientation of dental students, and graduate education in oral biology can play a significant role in training dental researchers and academicians. Advances in the field of oral biology and the potential broadening of its role have been overlooked or downplayed by some dental educators, making it something of an issue in the U.S. dental community. Resolving this issue will depend on several relatively independent events: (1) some relief from, or an adaptation to, the present situational pressures on dental education; (2) a well-informed pro-oral biology position from dental education's national leaders; (3) improved efforts by oral biologists to communicate the importance of their field; and (4) an understanding of this issue by the dental community with an organized effort to bring oral biology into the mainstream of dental education as it changes to meet new needs.