To understand the reasons behind dental ailments and issues, one must understand oral pathology. The mouth is one of the most significant organs of the body. It is a medium to consume food and a medium to express emotions. Poor dental hygiene and health can cause severe damage to this organ, and to understand the depth of this damage and how and why it occurs, oral pathology is employed. Oral Pathology (OP) is a specialism of dentistry, as well as pathology. The course is concerned with the pathology behind oral diseases and disorders and the impact it has on the tissues and the oral cavity. Oral Pathology involves the study of the soft tissues, dental hard tissues, and bones of the maxillofacial region. This is a very niche course in dentistry one that not too many opt for.
 

Oral Pathology involves the study of the causation, pathogenesis, and clinical presentation of all reactive and infective processes involved in the oral cavity. The students work to clinically recognize the ailment and formulate an appropriate differential diagnosis. This course plays an instrumental role in understanding the reasons and logic behind dental health and the issues that come with.

Awareness about dental hygiene and health is increasing, thus leading to an increase in the need for understanding the pathology behind different ailments. The OP course has a big scope in India as well as abroad, but there is competition for jobs. This is mostly because more people are discovering the course, and the requirement is falling short. This is not to say that the market is too competitive, but specializations are required to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
 

The scope abroad is similar to the scope in India, with competition for the jobs and the need for extra specializations and skills. At present, oral pathology labs are restricted to dental institutions only, and most of their services are offered to oral surgeons. Oral pathologists also widely work with the causes and diagnosis of the mouth of oral cancer.