Terminologies Used In Oral Pathology

Question 1

What is provisional diagnosis?

Answer 1

Diagnosis arrived at after history taking and clinical examination but before any investigations.

Question 2

What is differential diagnosis?

Answer 2

Process of identifying a particular disease process by differentiating it from all other pathologic processes that may have similar signs and symptoms or clinical course.

Question 3

What is Final diagnosis?

Answer 3

Diagnosis arrived after all the data (history, clinical examination and investigations) has been collected, analysed and subjected to logical thought.

Question 4

What is prognosis?

Answer 4

Prediction of the course, duration and termination of a disease and the likelihood of its response to treatment.

Question 5

What is investigation?

Answer 5

Steps undertaken to confirm a diagnosis which was established following case history taking and physical examination.

Question 6

What is laboratory investigation?

Answer 6

Extension of physical examination in which tissue, blood, urine, saliva or any other specimen is obtained from the patients body and subjected to microscopic, biochemical, microbiological or immunological examination.

Question 7

What is inspection?

Answer 7

Systematic visual assessment of the patient

Question 8

What is palpation?

Answer 8

Method of examining with the hands using the sense of touch.

Question 9

What is percussion?

Answer 9

Technique of striking the tissues with the fingers or an instrument so that the examiner may listen to the resulting sounds or note the response of the patient to such action.

Question 10

What is lesion?

Answer 10

Morphological altered tissue with objective signs of disease

Question 11

What is symptom?

Answer 11

Any change in the body or its function that is perceptible to the patient and may indicate a disease.

Question 12

Sign

Answer 12

Any change in the body or its function that is perceptible to a trained observer and may indicate a specific disease.

Question 13

What is hypersensitivity?

Answer 13

Exaggerated response to any stimulus which otherwise would not have caused the same degree of response.

Question 14

What is abscess?

Answer 14

Acute inflammation reaction localised within the tissue and associated with tissue destruction and liquefaction as well as pus formation.

Question 15

What is cellulitis?

Answer 15

Acute inflammation which spreads diffusely trough the tissue spaces and along tissue planes and usually suppurative in nature

Question 16

Exudate

Answer 16

It is the edema fluid produced by certain inflammatory reactions having a higher specific gravity (1.020 or higher) and a higher protein content (1-6 gm/dl)