Dentist or Doctor?
• dentistry • 3 minutes to read
Alas! This is the one topic of debate amongst all medical students. It is the most important question that we just cannot escape, which gnaws at us constantly. Mostly this question is self-directed, although family and friends make quite a significant contribution to poke and prod that part of your brain which tries to push away such a trivial matter (talk about getting on someone’s last nerve!)
Let’s address this.
Technically, dictionaries state that the term ‘Doctor’ is awarded to an individual with the highest academic degrees 1. That’s right!! End the debate! (Or maybe shift to the other debate: whether PhD holders are called doctors, or us poor medical students who slog for eternity)
Are Dentists considered to be Doctors? The simple answer is that it depends on your degree. If you complete your dental education and obtain a Doctor of Dental Medicine/ Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, you can most certainly use the prefix “Dr.”
My take from the numerous articles and announcements I have come across ever since I started my Dental journey is that, the term Doctor has two most important definitions - One is an academic, someone who has completed their PhD, and the other is someone who treats people’s illnesses 1.
In the 18th century, the medical hierarchy was such that surgeons ranked lower than physicians (what even) and were not considered to be doctors. As time passed, it was established that Surgeons are the ‘superior’ creatures, but by then they were quite satisfied to be distinguished from other medical practitioners and be addressed to as “Mr./Ms.” 2
Technically, a surgeon is someone who operates on humans, and dentists are qualified and trained to perform surgeries to address the cause of pain in any individual 3. As such, Dentists are ‘Oral Surgeons’ having sufficient medical knowledge to perform clinical examination, diagnose and prescribe medication (when needed) as an adjunct to dental treatment.
This definition of a dentist mentioned in fine print, is the root cause (pun intended) of the age-old question. Dentists are, simply put, specialists. We don’t need to go to medical school and then study some more to specialise (doesn’t mean you don’t need to specialise further!) to be able to perform surgery or call ourselves a specialist.
Next time your cousin Janice comes up to you and says, “Barry you’re just a Dentist, don’t call yourself a doctor” and laughs that evil nasally laugh, “Ha hahahahaha”. You tell her, “You’re right Janice, I’m actually an Oral Surgeon and you can address me as Mr.Barry, thanks” and walk away.
*Mic drop*
(Watch Friends!!!)