Are there dramatic physiological differences between teeth/gums and the rest of the body? Or is it just tradition?
In: Biology
You could very well imagine a system setup such that dentistry is a specialisation of medical doctor, rather than something completely separate. And it would have some notable benefits, particularly in cases where dental issues are connected to other health issues.
As is often the case it’s in a large part about history, rather than what would make logical sense today. They’ve been separate professions for 100s of years, cemented when medical schools were setup separately for doctors and dentists. At the time, gener medicine was much less specialised, making the divide between the practice of dentistry and general medicine much more stark.
Today it seems likely that the benefits of merging dentistry into medicine are simply outweighed by the cost and disruption it would cause. Perhaps it would be worth it in the long run, but there doesn’t seem to be much public or political drive to do anything about it.
Latest Answers