Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Maybe they are regressing and will call them “Barbers”.

Hi there

In the UK, the dental qualification is BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery). The medical qualification is MB BS, for MB ChB depending on school – i.e. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery.

The title “Dr” for physicians in the UK is thus an honorific. But it is a useful title to convey to the the general pubic the nature of what doctors do. I don’t understand why UK dentists such an inferiority complex. Their qualification is excellent. Their training is excellent (they are not barbaric – 12 years of a socialist government may have destroyed NHS dentistry but that is not the dentist’s fault.)

The British Advertising Standards Authority has just ruled the UK dentists much not call themselves “doctor” unless they are medically trained or have a doctorate on some sort. Your qualification is Doctor of Dental Surgery, and so that’s fine. Nonetheless, if you are at a dinner party, I am sure that, when asked what you do, you say “I am a dentist” you do not say “I am a doctor” as that would be meaningless.

This is about use of English – nothing more.

Best wishes

John

Dr John Crippens last blog post..Time to drink up, please

No no no, I don’t equate dentists with all the quacktitioners; far from it. That’s not what I say in the article. It is a mark of the bogus quacktitioner that they are always trying to find a bogus way to get “Dr” onto their headed note paper.

Dentists don’t need to do this. They are not bogus.

Mind you, as I say, there is a crowning (good word in context!!) irony in the UK. As you know, British surgeons were originally barbers and were not allowed to call themselves “Dr”. When, finally, their skills were recognised, and they were admitted to the profession, they decided to continue to call themselves “Mr” to distinguish themselves from mere physicians whose only skill is to push pills at people.

Dentists rightly pride themselves on being surgeons rather than physicians and most certainly have practical skills that mere physicians do not have. So, in the UK at any rate, they should really call themselves “Mr” to maintain their surgical status. By calling themselves “Dr” they are denigrating themselves. How ironic!

John

Dr John Crippens last blog post..Time to drink up, please

But now I need some help. I am well aware of dental expertise in the USA, but cheap it is not. Even Paul Allen cannot afford it. Or maybe he goes in the NHS in the UK. How do explain this?

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2007/12/paul_allen_vs_google.php

Could you help him for a fee he could afford?

John

Dr John Crippens last blog post..Time to drink up, please

Dentist are doctors. They are doctors of the mouth.

Dentists are using syringes and drug, so they are doctors.

In my opinion there’s no question about whether dentists are doctors or not……they are doctors. Wikipedia definition is: 1. A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick. The final examination and qualification may award a doctorate in which case the post-nominal letters are MD in the US or MBBS in the UK.
2. A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D. or Th.D. or one of many other terminal degrees conferred by a college or university.
3. A veterinarian; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick.
4. A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.

Pretty clear that #1 applies to dentists.

According to Wikipedia “Doctor” may refer to:

Title or profession:
Doctor (title), a title accorded to someone who has received an advanced degree
Doctor of the Church, a title granted by several Christian churches
Doctor of Philosophy, an advanced academic degree
Physician (US) / GP / Specialist, a medical practitioner
“Dentist, a practitioner of dental medicine”
Veterinarian, practitioner of veterinarian medicine
Chiropractor, a practitioner of chiropractic medicine
Doctor of Nursing Practice A Nursing Doctor
Doctor of Physical Therapy

so dentists are doctors

for reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor

This is an interesting thread.

My defense of my title of doctor would include the the three hospital medical staff committees that have seen fit to give me admitting privileges. Over the years I have admitted many patients to these hospitals and worked with pediatric, anesthesiology, nursing and emergency room colleagues, all of whom address me as Doctor. We are specialists in a particular area of the body as are dermatologists, ophthalmologists and Ear, Nose and Throat doctors.

At one of these hospitals I served as chairman of peer review for both Dentistry and ENT/Maxillofacial Surgery. Interestingly, all the forms that I sign use the term physician – not Doctor. Recently, I explained to a hospital administrator that while I am a doctor, I am not a physician and asked if they would please see fit to add the term “dentist” to the page. The hospital administrator did not blink or hesitate a moment to tell me that the hospital considered all medical staff with admitting privileges “physicians”! Has anyone else with hospital privileges had this experience?

Finally, I submit that those numerous physicians who have, over the years, brought to me their children for diagnosis and, if needed, surgical treatment and who all address me as doctor amply proves that the title is warranted.

My teeth are important to me, and many say it’s a great indicator in overall health. Seems as though dentistry in recent years as been given much less importance. I am grateful for the awesome products and services they offer.

Dr Crippen is right in his technical definition between Doctors and Dentists I guess my question is why is he so passionate about it. I mean, it’s one thing to want to defend an honorific on principle, or even in the hopes of preventing patient harm but does Dr. Crippen really believe that this title change will confuse patients in the slightest? As he points out “doctors are doctors and dentists are dentists” which, despite the recent changes, every schoolchild knows. As other commenters have pointed out the Dr. Honorific has been used for and by dentists in the United States for quite a long time and yet there has never to my knowledge been legal, professional or even circumstantial difficulty as a result. Perhaps Dr. Crippen will next want to challenge those holding Doctorates in Philosophy, Law or the Veterinary Arts. After all, by his definition they are not ‘doctors’ either.

Dentists are indeed doctors, although dentistry has much less of the inverted snobbery that the doctor profession has in the UK. For example, doctors are called “Dr”, until they are a consultant, at which point they want to be called “Mr”. Seems strange to do all that hard work and then want to lose the title!