As a longtime admirer of y’awl, it’s a dream to be fisked by Choire.
That said--and despite that "I don’t really believe the dental lobby is behind this" tag--it’s you that’s spouting the dental lobby’s talking points. The American Dental Association denies that there’s a shortage of dentistsâ€"though they will cop to a maldistribution (as anyone who lives outside a major population center will attest)â€"which is why they’ve pushed back against new dental schools opening up; why they oppose any relaxation of the licensing regulations that prevent foreign-qualified dentists from practicing here without years of expensive extra schooling; and why they’ve gone all out to fight efforts to allow non-dentists to provide basic dental care, even in places where patients face terrible problems finding a dentist (I’m think of programs like Alaska’s dental health aide therapist program and the new one in Minnesota).
You’re right that prevention and oral hygiene have had a positive effect, and that’s a great tribute to the profession (though dental cavities are still the most common chronic childhood disease). But don’t forget that we’re keeping our teeth longerâ€"partly because of prevention and fluoride and partly because of nifty options like implants as an alternative to denturesâ€"so more older people have a need to visit the dentist than was true four decades ago. There’s may be less dental decay, but there is more gum disease (which can hurt like a mofo, believe me). Throw in the fact that more dentists are working part-time (and that some are filling their appointment books with procedures like teeth-whitening), those baby-boomer dentists retiring, and the growing population, and I stand by my view that America faces a shortage of dentists in the next decade or so.
On The Great Dentist Crisis! Is It?
As a longtime admirer of y’awl, it’s a dream to be fisked by Choire.
That said--and despite that "I don’t really believe the dental lobby is behind this" tag--it’s you that’s spouting the dental lobby’s talking points. The American Dental Association denies that there’s a shortage of dentistsâ€"though they will cop to a maldistribution (as anyone who lives outside a major population center will attest)â€"which is why they’ve pushed back against new dental schools opening up; why they oppose any relaxation of the licensing regulations that prevent foreign-qualified dentists from practicing here without years of expensive extra schooling; and why they’ve gone all out to fight efforts to allow non-dentists to provide basic dental care, even in places where patients face terrible problems finding a dentist (I’m think of programs like Alaska’s dental health aide therapist program and the new one in Minnesota).
You’re right that prevention and oral hygiene have had a positive effect, and that’s a great tribute to the profession (though dental cavities are still the most common chronic childhood disease). But don’t forget that we’re keeping our teeth longerâ€"partly because of prevention and fluoride and partly because of nifty options like implants as an alternative to denturesâ€"so more older people have a need to visit the dentist than was true four decades ago. There’s may be less dental decay, but there is more gum disease (which can hurt like a mofo, believe me). Throw in the fact that more dentists are working part-time (and that some are filling their appointment books with procedures like teeth-whitening), those baby-boomer dentists retiring, and the growing population, and I stand by my view that America faces a shortage of dentists in the next decade or so.