Stomatology, as well as dentistry, is a medical and surgical science that covers the study of the oral cavity, including teeth1 and adjoining tissues2.

The difference in France between stomatology and dentistry lay in the curriculum. Stomatology was a specialty of the general medicine curriculum. As for odontology, this one consists of a course of study in its own right and independent of the classical course of general medicine. However the two entities intertwine and both are used to train professionals equally and duly qualified for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases.