Preface

Oral Biology is concerned with the nature of the oral and craniofacial tissues and with the application of basic scientific knowledge to oral tissues in health and disease. Oral Biology is a tremendously diverse scientific area, encompassing the disciplines of molecular biology and genetics, microbiology and immunology, biochemistry, biophysics, craniofacial biology and development, pharmacology and physiology. The aim of the present book is to illustrate how fundamental biologic phenomena are involved in the oral diseases. I’ve tried to produce a book, which provides a comprehensive brief overview of the entire field of oral biology and oral physiology. I hope that the book will be of value not only to under- and graduate students, but also to dental practitioners. It will have served a useful purpose if it poses more questions than it answers.