It was in July 1991 under the leadership of Dr A. P. Bhat an informal meeting was organized at YMCA opposite Nair Hospital Dental College, Bombay, where the then senior oral pathologists from Bombay (new Mumbai) fostered the concept of establishing an association of the Oral Pathology fraternity. Amongst them were a few hardcore academicians, some were pure clinicians and some were active both in academic and private practice – an indeed amazing combination of mind, knowledge, skill and attitude. They significantly attributed towards all the aspects of study of oral pathology.

          A galaxy of pioneers spear headed this momentum of developing an association of oral pathologists and those great legendries were Dr. H. M. Dholakia, Dr R. V. Mehta, Dr M. V. Lele, Dr A. P. Bhat, Dr S. E. Shroff, Dr V. R. Brave, Dr Sabane, Dr Leela S. Poonja, Dr G. P. Rathod, Dr P. Nainani, Dr Ramesh Kukreja, Dr Mrs. Pawar, Dr Ravi Shetty. These visionaries christened their concept of the oral pathology group as “Indian Academy of Oral Pathology” latter renamed as “Indian Association of Oral Pathology” (IAOP).

          Within a year, Oral Pathologists from Nagpur and Aurangabad (Maharashtra) enrolled and eventually over the years, all the states of India where department of Oral Pathology existed joined the association. The other senior pioneer members who contributed immensely were Dr A. T. Biviji, Dr R. Vishwanathan, Dr Saraswati, Dr. R. M. Mathur, Dr KARH Shastry, Dr V. K. Hazarey, Dr R. R. Paul, Dr Chandrashekar, Dr Ram Manohar, Dr Ipe Vargheese, Dr S. Hemavati to name a few.

          The first ever scientific and academic activity of IAOP was organized by GDC, Nagpur in 1992, scientific deliberations and case presentations were done by the participants. 27^th Feb 1993 was to be a day to reckon with, for us oral pathologists, as the 1^st National Conference of Indian Academy of Oral Pathologists was inaugurated. The first conference was hosted by the Mumbai group at hotel The Taj Intercontinental, Bombay. This 3 days conference from 26^th to 28^th February 1993 was organized under the chairmanship of Dr R. V. Mehta with the theme “Prevention and control of Oral Cancer”. A post conference workshop on ‘Scanning Electron Microscope’ was held at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.  The first President of IAOP was Dr H. M. Dholakia and first Hon. Secretary was Dr V. S. Sabane. The first academic workshop was organized at IIT Madras, Guindy, Chennai 1996 under the guidance of Dr R. Vishwanathan on Molecular biology.  There was no looking back once this momentum began.

The baton of leadership was most efficiently handled by one after the other, year after year from one committee to the other. The enthusiasm amongst the oral pathologist all over the country was over whelming. As the number of members increased, there was felt a need to register the association. The 1^st compilation of bye-laws was drafted for the association. On 15^th February 1993 the Association was registered with the Assistant Registrar of Societies, Bombay with Registration No. 115/1993 GBBSD Greater Mumbai Region. The same was amended and printed in November 2002.

The year 1994 in IAOP witnessed a unique phenomenon. Two National Conferences were conducted in the year 1994 at Dharwad and Chennai. The members actively participated with full enthusiasm and dedication in both the conferences. It was at this time that the first suggestion to change the name of the association was put forward. The short form for Indian Association of Oral Pathologists was “IAOP”. It was brought to the notice that “IAOP” (short form) also represented the short form for “International Association of Oral Pathologists”. This proposed the need for a special meeting. Hence, the first Extra Ordinary General Body Meeting (EOGM) was called for during the 1995 4^th National Conference, Belgaum.

The association was accordingly renamed as “Indian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists” (IAOMP). The bye-laws were revised and implemented. Subsequently the bye-laws of IAOMP were revised and re-registered in 2019 (registered at Chennai with Registrations of Societies under the Tamil Nadu Societies of Registration Act, 1975 – Act 27 of 1975). Our association which started with about 150 members (Ordinary and Student members) today has grown considerably to about more than 4500 members.

Increase in membership due to enrollment of student members, demanded a need for a common platform for the student members to share & exchange knowledge. The executive committee of the Association immediately took decision to organize the National Postgraduate Convention. The first National PG convention was organized by Bapuji Dental College, Davangere in the year 2001.

Academic activity for PG students like PG exchange programme were initiated, where the PG students were offered free travel and accommodation from their place to the inviting college. A good number of students took this benefit then.

           Boosting the enthusiasm of the participants (delegates) association has instituted awards for scientific presentation. Apart from these our philanthropic Oral Pathologists have instituted awards. Dr R. V. Mehta donated cash for Dr R. V. Metha for the “Best Scientific Paper Presentation” for a student member at the National Conference ; Dr. R. M. Mathur for “Best Article in IAOMP Journal” for IAOMP member ; Shri T. Rajasekaran Award for “Best Photography in Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology” instituted by Dr T. R. Saraswati. Shri T. V. Ramachandra Rao Award for “Best Poster on Original Research” for student member at National conference instituted by Dr T. R. Gururaja Rao.

Annual National Conferences and PG conventions have become the trend over the period of time. Scientific programmes organized during the National conference and convention included Oration, Endowment lecture, Symposium and Slide seminar conceived on the names of founder teachers, who dedicated themselves for the cause of oral pathology. The contributions collected by the Belgaum group were donated for the ‘Dr H. M. Dholakia’ Oration in the year 2001. The Chennai group proposed the ‘Dr R. Vishwanathan Endowment Lecture’. Dr A. P. Bhat Slide Seminar was contributed by the Bombay group, whereas “Dr D. K. Daftary Symposium” was the brain child of Dr V. K. Hazarey to emphasize the ever increasing need to understand and fight Oral Precancer and Cancer.

The National PG convention of IAOMP has initiated oration and memorial lecture. In the year 2013 ‘Dr A. T. Biviji Oration’ was instituted from the donation by the postgraduate students of GDC, Nagpur guided by Dr A. T. Biviji. Since 2014 ‘Dr Abhay Chandak memorial lecture’ has been organized which is sponsored by the oral pathologists from Datta Meghe Institute of Dental Sciences, Wardha, in the memory of a young and dynamic oral pathologist Dr Abhay Chandak.

The IAOMP instituted the Fellowship programme under the guidance of Dr K. Ranganathan in the year 2010. The objective was : (i) to facilitate worldwide recognition of the members of IAOMP and be on par with fellow professionals (ii) to provide an opportunity for recognizing their professional excellence of its members. The degree is known as “Fellow, Indian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology” (FIAOMP) awarded by the IAOMP.

Continued Dental Education Programmes (CDE) are organized round the year under the banner of IAOMP which has now proliferated over five zones of the country, namely North, South, East, West and Central zones. In the last 30 years IAOMP has advanced in leaps and bounds and has made a mark in the dental fraternity. It has registered members from North to South and East to West sharing knowledge and increasing awareness.

IAOMP which is a scientific body concerned chiefly with the advancement of arts, science and practice of Oral Pathology has been made popular amongst the masses with the celebration of National Oral Pathology Day on 25^th February every year since 2020. Through the activities conducted on this special day, the Association is trying to generate and create awareness about the understanding the oral diseases for masses.

Awareness of ill effects of tobacco and educating the masses about the causative factors is of utmost importance and necessity. IAOMP has instituted a torch as a symbol of creating nationwide awareness of oral cancer which shall run through various dental establishments in India carrying the logo: ‘WE CAN’. This can collectively succeed in creating awareness and reducing the burden of oral cancer in our community.

‘In Road – Indian National Registry of Oral and Associated Diseases an IAOMP’ initiative was adopted 14/01/2019 as proposed and developed by Dr. Radhika Bavale and her team. It was decided to start a national registry of oral disease, approved by the association.

Despite there being many dental institutions, cancer institutes and clinics in our country, there is a lacuna in the data available on oral diseases. The IAOMP being the largest organization of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologists in India aims to utilize the resources available through its members to fill in this lacunae and collect crucial, uniform and detailed data regarding oral diseases in India.

The initiative was to get the registry started with two main categories of pathologies of common occurrence in Indian States and hence important for oral pathologist. This included potentially malignant (PMD’s) of the oral cavity, oral squamous cell carcinoma and odontogenic cyst and tumors.

This proposal was launched on 25/02/2021 by Dr. L Swasticharan, Addl, DDG (LS) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, on the auspicious day of their “National Oral Pathologists Day’’ on 25/02/2021.

This is a first of its kind online registry with the primary aim to serve as a single data source for oral diseases in India and to bring about a radical change in the manner with which oral diseases will be tracked and documented.

A futuristic scheme has been proposed by Dr N. Gururaj (Madurai) and accepted in the AGM of IAOMP is ‘Family Concern Scheme’ in November 2023 in the AGM of 30^th National Conference of IAOMP at Belagavi. The Objective of the Scheme is to provide immediate financial help to the family in case of the death of an IAOMP member. The funds collected by our association will be able to support the family in the need of time. This scheme shall be handled by an autonomous committee under IAOMP. The financial accumulated will not be invested / used for any other matter nor will it be invested outside. This scheme requires all IAOMP members to join to make it successful.

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Compiled by:

Dr Alka Kale, Belagavi

Dr P.P. Nainani, Mumbai

Dr Rajiv Desai, Mumbai

Date : 22.11.24