care of patients with chronic recurrent and medically related disorders of the mouth and with their diagnosis and non-surgical management." unlike many other countries, oral medicine physicians in the uk do not usually partake in the dental management of their patients. some uk oral medicine specialists have dual qualification with both medical and dental degrees. however, in 2010 the gdc approved a new curriculum for oral medicine, and a medical degree is no longer a prerequisite for entry into specialist training. specialist training is normally 5 years, although this may be reduced to a minimum of 3 years in recognition of previous training, such as a medical degree. in the uk, oral medicine is one of the smallest dental specialties. according to the gdc, as of december 2014 there were 69 clinicians registered as specialists in oral medicine. as of 2012, there were 16 oral medicine units across the uk, mostly based in dental teaching hospitals, and around 40 practising consultants. the british & irish society for oral medicine has suggested that there are not enough oral medicine specialists, and that there should be one consultant per million population. competition for the few training posts is keen, although new posts are being created and the number of trainees increased. united states the american dental association (coda) accredited programs are a minimum of two years in length. oral medicine, is an american dental association recognized speciality, and many oral medicine specialists fulfil a very important role by teaching at dental schools and graduate programs to ensure dentists and other dental specialists receive excellent training in medical topics pertinent to the dental practice. the ada has recently started a dental practice parameters for world-class quality services. archived 2014-05-07 at the wayback machine