- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 880
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 4,641
- Resident [Any Field]
Is it true?
Do doctors look down upon dentists?
- Thread starter HoboCommander
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Messages
- 630
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 4,531
If you're worried about this now, you can never be happy no matter what you choose.
Be secure with your decision. In the end of the day, its a job, just like being a doctor is a job.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 880
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 4,641
- Resident [Any Field]
But they don't have a Medical Degree...
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2002
- Messages
- 3,086
- Reaction score
- 429
- Points
- 5,011
- Dentist
Um yeah they do. Oral Surgeons who complete a 6-year residency program have both, DDS and MD degrees.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,080
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 4,531
- Dental Student
You should ask this question in the MD/DO forums.
- Joined
- May 14, 2004
- Messages
- 21,255
- Reaction score
- 10,247
- Points
- 7,156
- Attending Physician
It's kinda hard to look down on dentists. I just don't have the right angle as they clean my teeth to gloat. I tried it once, but they quit offering me the spit sucker thingy and it got messy......
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2006
- Messages
- 95
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Dentist
and medical doctors don't have Dental degree
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2006
- Messages
- 7,173
- Reaction score
- 261
- Points
- 5,141
- Non-Student
In my experience the only dentists that get looked down on are the ones that constantly assert that "OMG DENtist aRE doctors TOO!!!1" and freak out every time someone accidentally refers to them as "Mr. Insecure" instead of "Dr. Insecure"
😀Dentists are even the Doctors, I should rather say that they are the specialized doctors. In my country there is no difference between the medical doctors and the dentists. Both have 4 years 6 months course with one year internship.Total 5 yrs 6 months.😍 So please do not panic, you are on the right way.
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 3,757
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 4,571
Yeah and what percentage of overall dentists are OMFS? 10% maybe?
Dentists have a doctoral degree. They are not doctors, just like a lawyer has a doctoral degree but he's not a doctor.
When the airplane stewardess acts is there is a doctor onboard to help a patient, the implicit assumption is that she's asking for a medical doctor with an MD/DO degree.
I'm sorry you dont like that. But modern conversational language has evolved in that fashion.
Maybe you'll think differently when the person who saves your life is a DENTIST.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2002
- Messages
- 3,086
- Reaction score
- 429
- Points
- 5,011
- Dentist
I'm not offended by the stewardess not referencing me in an emergency. Whoever is most qualified is the one I would hope helps the flight attendant, regardless of title. I was just making the point that there is a population of dentists who go on to specialize in OMS and earn an MD as part of that training. The reverse scenario, however, is rarely occurs - MDs who go back to dental school and earn a DDS.
You talked about conversation language and literature. I suggest you to look into a dictionary for the meaning of "DOCTOR". Then you shall be clear about who are called doctors. It is not only MD......
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2006
- Messages
- 7,173
- Reaction score
- 261
- Points
- 5,141
- Non-Student
Oh god, not this BS again.
Get over yourselves people. In common parlance, doctor = MD. If you really can't stand people not freaking out when you talk to them because you're soooo impressive maybe it's time to think about applying to med school after all.
Get over yourselves people. In common parlance, doctor = MD. If you really can't stand people not freaking out when you talk to them because you're soooo impressive maybe it's time to think about applying to med school after all.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2005
- Messages
- 423
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 4,571
- Location
- The great state of a epiphany
- Dental Student
It is kind of the norm in society to think of physicians when one says doctor. I think its important to take note of a few points. Not every doctor is a clinitian (some are phDs), and not all clinitians are referred to as doctors. Dentists are doctors (DDS) and they are also clinitians.
Looking at it from a social prespective, as a patient, it would be akward after a dental visit to get up and say thank you Mr. Anderson or Ms. Anderson. It seams very natural to want to address them as doctor because they play a vital role in meeting your health care needs. So why not call a nurse a doctor..well Like physicians in clinics, dentists in thier clinics are at the top of the food chain. They answer to no one else at the clinic. They have the last word. By the way, any person for that matter that has a doctorate degree and is a clinitian is called a doctor. Look at psychologists. Many of you are arguing about how the oral cavity is connected to the mouth..I agree with you but thats overkill. All you need to realize is that if you are a clinitian and have a doctorate degree in that, you are called a doctor with all its social conotations.
Looking at it from a social prespective, as a patient, it would be akward after a dental visit to get up and say thank you Mr. Anderson or Ms. Anderson. It seams very natural to want to address them as doctor because they play a vital role in meeting your health care needs. So why not call a nurse a doctor..well Like physicians in clinics, dentists in thier clinics are at the top of the food chain. They answer to no one else at the clinic. They have the last word. By the way, any person for that matter that has a doctorate degree and is a clinitian is called a doctor. Look at psychologists. Many of you are arguing about how the oral cavity is connected to the mouth..I agree with you but thats overkill. All you need to realize is that if you are a clinitian and have a doctorate degree in that, you are called a doctor with all its social conotations.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2005
- Messages
- 101
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Dental Student
you do not do our profession any good by having this attitude. if you do not consider us doctors what are we? tooth mechanics? tooth carpenters? times are changing, in the past i agree that dentists were not as grounded in the medical community. however, with the increasing evidence that oral diseases can cause/worsen systemic problems and vice versa it is obvious that dentists play an integral part in not only our patients oral, but systemic health.
http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctor
Main Entry:
Pronunciation:
\ˈdäk-tər\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English doctour teacher, doctor, from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin doctor, from Latin, teacher, from docēre to teach more at docile
Date:
14th century
1 a: an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church called also doctor of the church
b: a learned or authoritative teacher
c: a person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (as a PhD) conferred by a university
d: a person awarded an honorary doctorate (as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university
2 a: a person skilled or specializing in healing arts; especially : one (as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice
Thankyou for the meanings of a Doctor. Now it is clear to all those who doesn't want a dentist to be called a "DOCTOR". The discussion should be stopped now, isn't it.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2006
- Messages
- 798
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 4,551
- Dentist
I look down upon myself everyday! I have a hard time acknowledging myself as a doctor. Especially after diagnosing a carotid blockage a couple months ago based on finding on a pan. And then there was that one time when my hygienist picked up a skin spot that turned out to be a melanoma. Its tough being a tooth mechanic, we really have no impact on the overall health of our patients, and I always live by the motto " Its only a tooth"...... I make sure at weddings and other functions that my name tag has the old Barry Bonds asterisk before Dr.😉
If you want to consider yourself a doctor, fine. But your opinions about yourself and our changing field has not changed what "doctor" means in common vernacular. Maybe, one day, as dentists prove themselves to the general populous, the meaning behind the term "doctor" will change in people's minds, but I really think it's odd that our colleagues seem so persistent in forcing the change in mindset rather than allowing the population to make its own decisions.
But just so you know, I and Armor (since I know him), do not consider ourselves tooth mechanics or carpenters. We do think of OURselves as doctors. BUT, since we deal with a very specialized area of medicine and don't do the rounds that MD and DO physicians do, I would not feel comfortable in all clinical medical situations other doctors might. I, for example, after completing dental school, probably wouldn't feel very confident being the lead physician in an ER for a night or spending the whole day helping women give birth. Let's face it, we never train for that type of medicine.
There are lots of people who hold the title of Doctor, but they don't all have the knowledge or know how to do General medicine. I wouldn't want a chiropractor to diagnose my Cancer. I wouldn't ask a podiatrist to fill a cavity. I wouldn't ask my English Professor to diagnose Cadiopulmonary Embolism.
I would expect a Dentist to be able to diagnose and treat diseases of the oral head and neck region and have general medical knowledge to understand what other diseases are doing in the body and connections between oral diseases and systemic diseases, but should a dentist who has never given an IV or performed a colonoscopy or diagnosed from an MRI be allowed to perfrom these tasks independently? Obviously no, and neither should any doctor, MD or no, unless they had the training.
As for whether MDs and the like look down on DDS, DMDs...that depends. Yes, I've met more than a few physicians who don't see us on the same level as them. This isn't an old school way of thinking either. Med students I've met see it the same way.
At the same time, I know quite a few doctors who do not look down on dentists...and surprise surprise, it sure as hell wasn't cause the dentist kept telling the doctors that Dentists are just as competent as doctors and should be considered equal because of X, Y, and Z. It was cause the dentists PROVED through clinical ability or general conversation about medical issues (not argued) that they were equivalent.
I still remember setting up a couple lectures with a couple dentists to the doctors and nurses of a medical facility. The Dentists so impressed the doctors by being able speak the same language (in clinical terms) as the doctors, answer all the questions of the doctors and nurses, etc. that a couple of the docs later asked me for the dentist's office numbers so they could call them for consultations when the need arised.
If we want to change the way physicians see us, we should stop telling them to see us differently and prove to them why they should see us differently.
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 3,757
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 4,571
Thats because just about 0% of MDs have any interest in becoming dentists, whereas a substantial portion of OMFS want that MD degree.
Think about it for a moment. Why would an OMFS program put in an MD degree? Is it because an MD is required by law to do oral surgery? Hell no. The reason it was added is because dentists who become OMFS WANT THAT MD DEGREE for show-off/presentation purposes. They want that notorious "doctor" status that comes with an MD degree.
There is absolutely ZERO practical reason why OMFS programs give the MD degree. It has everything to do with show and nothing to do with substance.
Anybody who argues otherwise must be admitting that the non-MD OMFS programs are inferior to the MD-granting OMFS places.
- Joined
- May 26, 2007
- Messages
- 924
- Reaction score
- 195
- Points
- 5,231
- Dentist
personally, I would not worry about something like that. If people want to go there, I can tell them that Ph.D.'s (like myself) look down on the M.D.'s because the former are real doctors (in the original, latin word sense--a teacher) than M.D.'s. Personally, though, I could care less about what other people think.
In my case, only if they're 6'4" or taller
Actually, atleast in the area where I practice there is a very cordial and professional relationship between the medical and dental professionals. It happens more and more where we as dentists will actually see the patient more often than the MD/DO will and with good diagnostic skills can and often do make referrals back to the MD/DO. Bottom line, as dentists we know that the MD/DO's went through alot to get those letters behind their name and vise versa. If either we can't respect that or they can't respect that then they really need to get off the ego/god trip their on.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 880
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 4,641
- Resident [Any Field]
I heard that most dentists originally wanted to be doctors, and either could not get accepted into med school or they were afraid of the commitment. Is this true? Is that why doctors look down upon the dentists?
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2006
- Messages
- 798
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 4,551
- Dentist
Yeah, thats it. I really wanted to go to med school, make less money, work longer hours, and pay higher malpractice insurance. The generalizations on this thread are laughable. Where is johntara when we need him?
Agreed.
This whole thread stems from professional immaturity and profound lack of experience. Once in real life clinical practice, your views of the whole medical profession and it's numerous specialties will change dramatically. Only then will you realize and understand why any doctor is called a doctor. Until then, you're inferiority complex is on it's own.
... even though you're obviously trolling.
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2007
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Resident [Any Field]
I think your claim holds true in only an academic settings. Medical students ALWAYS like to think they're more superior than dental students. But we dental students know who's actually more intellect and attractive. Nothing against Osteopathic medical (DO) students, but I get a kick when they think they're the sh1t and belittle dental students. Aahhh excuse me, a DO school is about competitive as a Podiatry school!!
Once medical student graduate from school and into residencies or out in the real world, then that's when they wish that they were dentists because of our financial rewards and lifestyle. If you poll physicians if they can do it all over again, would they rather be a dentist or a physician, the result may surprise the sh1t of ya!👍
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2005
- Messages
- 460
- Reaction score
- 16
- Points
- 4,641
- Resident [Any Field]
When I was a senior dental student, I saved a man's life on an airplane... And for the record the airline attendant asked for someone "capable of providing medical assistance." Southwest Airlines gives me the royalty treatment now... 1 free ticket every year.
Lets get the terms straight...
Allopathic Physician- MD
Osteopathic Physician- DO
Doctor of Dental Surgery- DDS
Doctor of Dental Medicine- DMD
Doctor of Philosophy-PhD
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine- DVM
Doctor of Optometry- OD
Podiatrist or Doctor of Podiatric Medicine- DPM
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2006
- Messages
- 801
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 4,551
- Location
- Nowhere and Everywhere
- Dental Student
People need to realize..there is no such thing as a "doctor". There are merely variations upon that theme. a physician is a TYPE of doctor. a dentist is a TYPE of doctor. Nobody can claim to be simply a "doctor".
Most dentists I know can't read. Dentists are not doctors, but the preferred term is tooth technician, Here in the US we dentists are taught by people who cut hair. Dentists have NO medical training, in fact they are taught, only, the difference between teeth and skin. People who go to medical school are much MUCH smarter than people that go to dental school. Dental training is only 3 days.
People in medical school refuse to talk to us dental students, in fact they are encouraged to spit on us.
woe is me, the lowly life a degenerate dental student.
-C
People in medical school refuse to talk to us dental students, in fact they are encouraged to spit on us.
woe is me, the lowly life a degenerate dental student.
-C
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2005
- Messages
- 585
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
I only recognized dentist, tooth, us (that means both of us, right?), no, teeth. I can't wait til next semester when we get to learn how to form sentences, do endo, and get our raincoats. 😀:
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2005
- Messages
- 417
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 4,571
Ok Mr. Laymen' s term, let me put it to you simply, you don't need a medical degree to earn the title of Doctor. Having a medical degree entitles you to be Medical Doctor (MD/Physician) and a dental degree is as DDM ( Doctor of Dental Surgery).
Sea, me told u dentists kan't reed or rite! DDM = Doctor of dental surgery, kleerly that is wat DDM meens.
-C
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2005
- Messages
- 585
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
So does that mean Temple is ripping me off giving me a DMD? Is it all a fraud. Oh man, I am already 100 G's in the hole.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2007
- Messages
- 880
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 4,641
- Resident [Any Field]
That reminds me of a question that I've always wanted to ask. I hope it is appropiate. My female dentist always puts her boobies on my face as she looks into my mouth. Then she always says "you're such a good patient!" Is the booby thing a common practice with female dentists? I kinda like it.
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2005
- Messages
- 270
- Reaction score
- 77
- Points
- 4,666
- Dentist
I simply refer to MDs as physicians and DDS/DMDs as dentists. I see no reason to automatically refer to physicians as doctors, however I have no problem referring to them as such. We are all independent professionals on the same multidisciplinary team.
2 kinds of people I cannot stand in this world: stuck-up physicians and insecure D-school students who feel incomplete not getting an MD. (thankfully I've only encountered 3 people like this). I personally would never trade my DDS for an MD. Having said that, I have enormous respect for competent, down to earth physcians.
2 kinds of people I cannot stand in this world: stuck-up physicians and insecure D-school students who feel incomplete not getting an MD. (thankfully I've only encountered 3 people like this). I personally would never trade my DDS for an MD. Having said that, I have enormous respect for competent, down to earth physcians.
This thread has gone for long enough. Closing.
- Status
Similar threads
