Why aren't Optometrists considered specialists?

[kkwngl]

Its been bothering me for some time now, perhaps someone can explain, but why aren't optometrists treated the same way medical professionals/general public treat dentists? Aren't they both parallel to each other in the sense that dentists focus on oral health and optometrists focus on visual/eye health?

If this is the case, why aren't Optometrist's salaries comparable to dentists? Isn't that what one would expect? Would current Optometrists argue that the field is branching out similar to Dentists, and could potentially be just as frugal of a field?

Would appreciate Optometrists responding. Gonna be an optometrist myself in a few years, so was curious as to why this is the case. Thanks!

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[KHE]

There are a ton of reasons for this but at the end of the day I think it boils down to two major things:

1) Dentistry is a procedure based field whereas optometry is more of an examination based field.

2) Dental pain hurts like a bastard and people are much more willing to pay a premium to be relieved of that pain. If presbyopia caused pain, we'd be rolling in dough. lol

 

[London22]

Yeah think about how much money the average person spends on dental work vs eye care.
I know a ton of people who've never had problems with their eyesight that haven't set foot in an optometrist office, despite explaining to them there's more to the exam than glasses and contacts.
A lot of eye diseases can silently creep up on people. Their eyes might not give them pain or acuity issues at that moment so they don't bother going for an annual which is an issue.

Compared to dental that can hurt like a mofo. Most people go twice a year for cleanings if they can. And then procedures on top that can be costly depending on what you need.
Also dental tends to be in peoples heads more often. You brush and hopefully floss your teeth every day. If you don't your teeth feel gross and end up costing yourself a lot of dental work in the long run.
Whereas not everyone uses glasses, contacts, or requires some special routine for their eyes.

Ironically when people talk about senses they tend to value their eyesight the most. But I guess there's that procedure gap that might cause it to be overlooked.

 

[Mimi625]

Yeah think about how much money the average person spends on dental work vs eye care.
I know a ton of people who've never had problems with their eyesight that haven't set foot in an optometrist office, despite explaining to them there's more to the exam than glasses and contacts.
A lot of eye diseases can silently creep up on people. Their eyes might not give them pain or acuity issues at that moment so they don't bother going for an annual which is an issue.

Compared to dental that can hurt like a mofo. Most people go twice a year for cleanings if they can. And then procedures on top that can be costly depending on what you need.
Also dental tends to be in peoples heads more often. You brush and hopefully floss your teeth every day. If you don't your teeth feel gross and end up costing yourself a lot of dental work in the long run.
Whereas not everyone uses glasses, contacts, or requires some special routine for their eyes.

Ironically when people talk about senses they tend to value their eyesight the most. But I guess there's that procedure gap that might cause it to be overlooked.

What can the new generation of optometrists do to change this? I feel like most people associate our profession with only the refraction aspect. How can we emphasize ocular health? And vision issues? With the age of technology shouldn’t this be a huge concern?

 

[Weirdy]

What can the new generation of optometrists do to change this? I feel like most people associate our profession with only the refraction aspect. How can we emphasize ocular health? And vision issues? With the age of technology shouldn’t this be a huge concern?

You can't change demand.

They associate the profession with only the refraction aspect because that is what patients mostly come in for. That is the demand.

Emphasizing ocular health or spreading awareness may marginally gain attention, but people don't come in unless something is wrong or they feel pain.

 

[happyOD]

Its been bothering me for some time now, perhaps someone can explain, but why aren't optometrists treated the same way medical professionals/general public treat dentists? Aren't they both parallel to each other in the sense that dentists focus on oral health and optometrists focus on visual/eye health?

If this is the case, why aren't Optometrist's salaries comparable to dentists? Isn't that what one would expect? Would current Optometrists argue that the field is branching out similar to Dentists, and could potentially be just as frugal of a field?

Would appreciate Optometrists responding. Gonna be an optometrist myself in a few years, so was curious as to why this is the case. Thanks!

The ophthalmology cover almost all area except optics part of optometry, but non dental part is covered by any medical school, no medical doctor competes with dentist, but OD is just like a primary care fo ophthalmologist.