The need for the best practices recommendations in the oral pathology laboratory

Dear Editor,
Dentistry is one of the acknowledged fields of modern scientific medicine. Oral pathology is a specialization in dentistry dealing with diseases in the head and neck region, especially the oral cavity and its’ associated structures. According to the Dental Council of India (DCI), oral pathology and microbiology are one of the recognized specialties of dentistry [1]. Our aim is to create guidelines, which can ensure prompt and accurate reporting, as well as digitization to minimize errors in the oral pathology laboratory [2]. Laboratory testing is one of the most widely utilized diagnostic procedures to support medical decisions, but there is scarce data demonstrating its’ efficacy and impact on health outcomes [3].
The American Academy of Oral Pathology (AAOMP) was the first to be started as early as 1946 [4]. An informal club of oral pathologists evolved into the British Society of Oral Pathology (BSOMP) in 1967 [5]. The International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists (IAOP) united oral pathologists across the world in 1976 [6]. The Indian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists was established in 1993, whereas the Asian Society of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology (ASOMP) was started in 2003 for educational purposes [7].
An international survey on 42 countries represented in IAOP showed that oral pathology is either a specialty, or recognized by a licensing body. Out of 195 countries in the world, only 42 had oral pathology, whereas other countries, such as Poland, Russia etc., did not have any recognized specialty or licensing body [8].
Oral pathology is also a recognized branch of pathology, even by the Royal College of Pathologists in the United Kingdom [9]. The Royal College of Patholo­gists of Australia, the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, and the General Dental Council of UK are few recognized organizations in oral pathology. Therefore, oral pathology is both a field of dentistry and a branch of pathology related to medicine.
Oral pathologists are specialized dentists dealing with histopathological and immuno-histochemical diagnosis of biopsy specimens, fine needle aspiration cyto­logy, exfoliative cytology, and analysis of biological samples referred for hematology, biochemistry, and microbiology. They correlate histopathological features with clinical and radiological findings, and either directly treat or indirectly guide treatment of patients [2].
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