Oral Pathology provides vital laboratory services
Behind the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences works a team of top professionals who provide valuable insights into oral health conditions that may not be visible during a dental examination. These individuals make up UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry’s Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Service.
Beginning over 20 years ago, the biopsy and imaging services have prided themselves on serving the patient population quietly behind the scenes. Whether it’s diagnosing oral lesions of patients through a microscope lens or from a black-and-white image, the team of faculty members and residents collaborate to offer one of the most important, yet often invisible, services at the school.
“Both of these services are a vital part of what we do at the School of Dentistry,” said Anita Joy-Thomas, BDS, PhD, chair of the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences. “Not just from an educational perspective, but more from a compassionate, person-centered, clinical care perspective. We are truly making a difference in patient’s lives, albeit in an indirect way.”
The Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Service is a comprehensive, CLIA-certified, independent laboratory located within the School of Dentistry and boasts a nationwide reach. Through this service, board-certified oral and maxillofacial pathologists are committed to providing accurate diagnostic and prognostic information for referring dentists and medical specialists treating oral and maxillofacial disorders.
“Our laboratory is focused on providing clinicians and their patients with reliable diagnoses of oral and maxillofacial diseases using state-of-the-art histopathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular diagnostic procedures,” said Nadarajah Vigneswaran, BDS, DrMedDent, DMD, director of the biopsy services.
With a greater reach comes greater impact, which is one aspect of the services that is critical to its success. The laboratory sends out biopsy kits to any doctor who requests one, which connects them to the school’s services by having the tissue samples packaged appropriately to be examined by the team.
“The unique combination of diagnostic and treatment services an oral pathologist provides assures patients and referring clinicians of the highest quality of care,” Joy-Thomas said. “Along similar lines, our radiologists in the Oral and Maxillofacial Imaging Services provide clear and accurate diagnoses from reviews and interpretations of a variety of clinical images — radiographs, CBCTs, MRIs, and even sonograms.”
Another advantage of the dental school’s biopsy and imaging services is the collaborative relationship with other experts within the Texas Medical Center, including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
In addition to the advantage of the geographic location, the services also boast the rollout of new AI-driven digital pathology/radiology tools, qualified pathologists and radiologists, and a crew of lab personnel with years of experience.
“Most often, the patients don’t even see the pathologists or the radiologists, but they play a very important role in helping our referring surgeons and doctors make those crucial decisions in providing the highest standards of care for their patients,” said Joy-Thomas.
The oral pathology laboratory is located in the School of Dentistry and is open Monday through Friday. To request a biopsy kit, email utoralpathology@uth.tmc.edu.