Guest skiboot Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Hi, This is the first time I've checked out the dentistry side of this site. I read an interesting bit in another post about how dentists diagnose jaw problems, etc. I'll admit that my view of dentistry comes from my yearly visit to the dentist, and experience with orthodontics (cleanings, fillings, painful freeziing, retainer, etc), so fogive me if I offend anyone. I was wondering about what roles a general dentist plays in the overall diagnosis / treatment of health problems over and above what the average healthy individual with a few cavities along the way would experience in an annual or bi annual dental visit? How often would a dentist partake in such practices? Also, what other specialties within dentistry exist as possible career options if one were to pursue a career in dentistry? Cheers, skiboot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LestatZinnie Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 dentists have quite a lot of freedom to do whatever they want in their career. for instance if you want to specialize in TMJ, or cosmetics, or prosthetics, then you can take continuing ed. courses and focus your clinic in that direction. on the other hand, if you're content with cleanings and fillings, that's ok too. or you can do everything (but then you have to learn everything) there are no barriers preventing general dentists from performing specialist tasks such as perio, endo, or even ortho. most dentist refrain from doing so because their work will be held to the same standard as the specialists, and they're happy doing the simple stuff and referring out the tough procedures. it's all about personal competence and confidence. most popular specialties are probalby ortho, oral surgery, endo, perio. just wondering, why would a dentist want to be involved in the overall diagnosis of patients? i certainly don't want to do that. it just adds more work to the job. family physicians exist for that reason. dentists may notice some problems and make a referral to the family physician, but i personally won't take the trouble to examine the whole body because that's not DMD's are licensed to do and it bears no interest to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest skiboot Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 Hi, Thanks for the input. Regarding the diagnosis, I meant to say with regards to the mouth / jaw etc, not an overall diagnosis. Of course, a family physician exists for that. Once one becomes a dentist, how long does it usually take to specialize in ortho or perio? Are these programs full time, or can one maintain a general practice while studying to become a specialist in one of the above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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