Textbook of General Pathology for Dental Students 2023

Understanding the basic principles of pathology is essential for students pursuing dentistry. Although excellent books on pathology are available, they are primarily targeted at medical students. Dental students often find these books too voluminous with too much basic detail, particularly from the undergraduate students’ points of view. Worse, pathology books primarily targeted at dental students are hard to find. It is heartening to note that globally there is a trend developing to shoulder the responsibility of teaching general pathology topics by oral and maxillofacial pathologists. With this scenario, a need for a book on general pathology topics authored by oral and maxillofacial pathologists is real. Textbook of General Pathology for Dental Students is aimed at fulfilling this need. This book deals with fundamental concepts and mechanisms underlying various human diseases in 18 chapters. Chapters on introduction to pathology, cellular pathology, homeostasis, and tissue healing set the scene for diseases and disorders of inflammatory, genetic, infectious, and neoplastic background. Because of their relevance to clinical dental practice, chapters on ageing, imbalances in fluids and electrolytes, acids and bases, haemodynamic disorders, thrombosis, infarction and shock, and environmental and nutritional pathology are included in the book. A chapter on pain is presented to provide essential basic knowledge of pain pathways. Brief details of dental, oral, and maxillofacial and salivary gland diseases are presented to introduce these topics to the preclinical dental student. Because of the strong, often bidirectional link between systemic and oral diseases, organ system-based pathology is discussed briefly as an introduction to general medicine topics taught later in the clinical years of training. Illustrations and tables are expected to reinforce the information presented in the text. Pathologic terms, most of which are new to a dental student in preclinical years, are defined in the glossary at the end of the book. It is my earnest hope that this book will be helpful to dental students globally.