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Dentistry is not an allied health profession. It is not a paramedical profession. It is time that dentistry be recognized as the profession that offers patients some of the most complex surgery performed on the human body--namely, restorative dentistry and rehabilitation of the masticatory system. Dentistry is the only anatomically focused health care profession that is university-based and for which primary care responsibility is maintained by the profession. An inferiority complex about what it means to be a dentist has served only to confuse the public and bring us further from our goal of improving the health of all our patients. This inferiority complex is driven by the public and the medical profession, neither of which understands how dentistry fits into overall health care. It is essential that every academic health center have oral health education as an integrated part of health care education for dentists, physicians, nurses, allied dental personel, physical therapists, psychologists and all who receive university-based health care education. In this way, all the health professions and the public will see dentistry and oral health as essential to patients' overall health. The idea of emulating those who do not have the strength of basic-science education, practice complexity, surgical skills or community status by seizing a new title will not elevate the profession for the future. The public knows what a dentist is. It is our task to inform the public about the capabilities of dentists and the value of oral health and our profession. We can accomplish this best by assuring that our profession's name, "dentistry," is understood to represent one of the world's most accomplished surgical endeavors, one that is thoroughly integrated into the fabric of health care. Thus, good oral health will be thoroughly integrated into what it means to be healthy.
Inspired by recently published NDA II: The Story of America's Second National Dental Association and sponsored jointly by the National Dental Association Foundation and the Colgate-Palmolive Company, an historical exhibit on dentistry in the African-American community was one of the celebrations for the Golden Anniversary of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. This exhibit premiered on Sept. 27, 2002 in the National Museum of Dentistry located on the medical/dental campus of the University of Maryland in Baltimore. The Museum recently became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. Contents of the exhibit were photographs, charts, artifacts, memorabilia, etc. These materials presented an overview of African-American activities in dental education, research, patient care, general practice, dental specialities, military service, and public health. Also included were inter-racial relationships, socioeconomic developments, and participation in civil rights endeavors that played a major role in changing out-dated accepted customs. The exhibit's purpose was to celebrate dentistry's ministrations as a health professional among African Americans in particular and the nation at large over the past two centuries. Respect for and progress of black dentists paralleled that of black physicians who were instrumental in including dentist and pharmacists as equal members in the National Medical Association since the latter's inception in 1895.
The percentage of aged and very old people in the total population is increasing rapidly in industrialized countries. This is an important change which, in particular, affects the areas of dentistry and oral medicine. The problems that this older population group face need to be given more attention and need to be brought more into the forefront of dental and oral medicine. The percentage of the dentate population has increased in Germany, due to the high standard of the dental care. The percentage of the edentulous population has therefore decreased. It has become necessary for those who care for the elderly to adjust to caring for the dentate patient, as opposed to edentulous patient. It is important for all professions involved in the treatment and care of geriatric patients to have an awareness of the basic fundamentals of geriatric dentistry within general rehabilitation. Doctors in particular need to be given training in the detection of caries, peridontal diseases, and denture problems. They should feel confident working with the dentist and his team as partners in the rehabilitation treatment. It is especially important that geriatric hospitals have experience in dentistry and oral hygiene, so that damage to life-long well cared for teeth can be prevented, and so that poor oral hygiene during a hospital stay does not result in dental problems. Dentists and their teams will have to adjust to the treatment of aged and multimorbidic patients. More discussion is also necessary between dentists involved in all areas of geriatric medicine, geriatric dentistry, and geriatric dental public health.
Portable dentistry is a service that is easy to provide and profitable; the demand is expected to increase as the population ages. The author encourages incorporating portable dentistry as a methodical and planned service, alongside traditional fixed practice, to benefit the patient and the profession. The profession of dentistry is challenged to consider its ethical and moral obligation to homebound and institutional patients, citing instances worthy of consideration. Barriers that prevent access to care are discussed and some are reduced to manageable components of business such as finances or concerns with treating the medically complicated patient. Opportunities and possibilities for personal, professional, and financial growth through the provision of portable dentistry are cited.
OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to examine the attitudes of Specialists in Paediatric Dentistry (SPDs) practising in the UK towards the creation of a specialty of Special Care Dentistry (SCD). DESIGN: Data were collected by postal questionnaire. Sample and methods. Two hundred and eleven dentists whose names were entered on the General Dental Council's Specialist List in Paediatric Dentistry, and who were resident and practising in the UK, were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of both open and closed questions. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned by 167 (79.2%) of the eligible SPDs. One hundred and sixty respondents (95.8%) expressed an opinion in relation to the creation of a specialty of SCD. One hundred and forty-three respondents (85.6%) stated that they supported such a proposal. However, slightly fewer (n = 149) respondents were prepared to indicate what they considered to be the remit of the proposed specialty. Ninety-two respondents (55.1%) considered that it should be restricted to the provision of specialist care for adults with 'special needs'; the remaining 57 respondents felt that it should provide specialist care across the entire age spectrum. CONCLUSIONS: Among SPDs, there is overwhelming support for the creation of a specialty of SCD, the majority view being that this should be dedicated to the provision of specialist care for adults with 'special needs'.
Dental practitioners in both private and public dentistry are faced with patients who for reasons of public or private finance are not able to be treated with the most sophisticated available dentistry. A concept of appropriate dentistry is provided whereby, with reference to available literature, it is shown that cost-conservative treatment can be provided that is likely to be satisfactory to both the client and the practitioner.
Since the late 1890s, forensic odontology has gradually established itself as important, often indispensable, in medicolegal cases, in particular for identification of the dead. The specialty of forensic dentistry generally covers three basic areas, namely, (1) identifications human remains, (2) litigation relating to malpractice, and (3) criminal proceedings, primarily in the areas of bite-mark evaluation and child abuse. Much of its expertise is based on clinical experience, fundamental research and advances in knowledge in relation to dentistry in general. Particularly over the past two decades, there has also been increasing research on specific forensic dental matters. In this paper, the methods of identification used in forensic dentistry are reviewed, and their application in two areas, mass disasters and bite-mark analysis is discussed. Progress in this field in Finland has been relatively slow. It has depended as in other countries on development of training and research facilities in the dental schools, and oral pathology departments.
In this first paper of a series on small animal dentistry, the responsibility of the veterinarian to detect, diagnose and to treat dental problems in small animals is that of the veterinarian and nobody else, is discussed in detail. A review of the history of veterinary dentistry is followed by an introduction to the pathology and treatment of dental problems in small animals.
This report summarizes the progress made by pediatric dentistry over the last twenty-year period, especially in terms of prevention, with an emphasis on the role that the Journal has had in informing and guiding the readership along the lines of professional practice. Patients are younger now; parents more informed by the profession and the mass media; practitioners are more prevention-oriented toward disease, as opposed to being trained to control the disease process. A preventive philosophy has been presented to the readership in Journal volumes 35-55, in which 1,099 scientific articles were published. Prevention (16 percent), oral pathology (24.4 percent), orthodontic/growth and development (14 percent), behavior management (12 percent), and rehabilitative dentistry (9.9 percent) were the largest groups of articles published in the Journal in the last two decades.
Children's dentistry can be a challenge for both the patient and the dentist. The way a dentist interacts with the child patient will have a major influence on the success of any clinical or preventive care. In order to deliver high-quality dentistry to a child whilst also developing a positive attitude towards dental health, the dentist should have a good understanding of the factors that might affect the behaviour of children in the dental setting. A working knowledge of strategies to minimize anxiety and make positive behaviour more likely is essential, as is a grasp of how best to deal with anxiety or negative behaviour.
The number of current practitioners, academicians, and researchers in Pediatric Dentistry is clearly not adequate to meet the need and demand. The shortage in academia is dire. Simply put, not enough pediatric dentists are being trained. The rate limiting factor is the number of training positions. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry established a "Task Force on Work Force Issues" approximately 18 months ago and charged that group to seek methods for creating more training positions. This paper reflects the Task Force deliberations, documents the shortage of pediatric dental specialists, and recommends tactics for amelioration.