The changing face of dentistry?

(Comment in July/August 2012 issue Volume 39, No. 6)

Oh, do get a grip; we are in the modern world!

You and I may regret the proliferation of companies promoting the marketing and business of dentistry, but it has to be remembered that dentistry is a business, and that running a dental practice is becoming increasingly costly. Dentistry is still, I think, a caring profession – certainly when compared with some others, for example, medicine, banking, the law; but like them it provides ample opportunity and encouragement for the, perhaps, less scrupulous.

We cannot turn the clock back. We live in the modern age; one where we are encouraged to make money and live the good life. Dentistry is, after all, just a reflection of modern life as a whole.

So what is to be done? This is a difficult question to answer when one considers the pressures we all live under. There needs to be a cultural shift. No, not back to the dark ages when I were a lad! We need to look into the mirror and consider what we are really looking at. I am afraid that, with regard to dentistry, much depends on the dental schools taking more care in their choice of candidates and instilling in them a different ethical approach. That may be difficult too, considering the pressure on universities to bring in the money!