As aspiring dentists, we’re taught to observe and recognize
patterns, both in and out of the classroom, lab, and operatory. I’d like to
take the time to discuss a phenomenon I have experienced that I feel has
concerning indications: There is evidence that the dental school curricula is
drastically misunderstood and underestimated in the other healthcare
professions.
On the rare occasion that I step away from recorded lectures
and plastic teeth, I enjoy catching up with friends outside of the dental
profession, be it at parks, restaurants, or parties. I have quite a few friends
in school for other healthcare professions, and it’s nice to share the taciturn
understanding of odd schedules, non-existent income, and the normalcy of
discussing infinite factoids about the human body (regardless of the occasion!).
I most enjoy the conversations that highlight the incessant overlapping of the
healthcare professions. Many if not most of these conversations, however,
consist of at least one moment where a medical colleague turns to me with a
surprised, wide-eyed expression and asks, “Why do dentists even need to know
that?”
At first, I found this experience laughable and somewhat
understandable, but throughout my academic progression I’ve grown slightly
impatient. Time and time again, we’ve heard dentists and professors remind us
that although we are primarily focused on treating the oral cavity, we are
responsible for understanding the systemic health of the entire patient (just
as one would expect a dermatologist to understand more than just the skin). As
one of my professors aptly put it, “That mouth didn’t walk into your office on
its own.”
Finding
a Common Ground
I admire the intensely thorough curriculum of medical
school, pharmacy school, and optometry school, and I understand why most
students only learn the bare basics of the oral cavity. I am not asking for my
fellow health professionals to know the dimensions of a Class II amalgam
preparation and the rationale behind them. It would be appropriate for these
healthcare professionals to instead appreciate why we too spend multiple
semesters conquering anatomy and neuroscience, and can fully comprehend the
unique location and function of each branch of the cranial nerve. For example,
patients with congestive heart failure should not be reclined in the dental
chair as much as those without the condition to avoid dyspnea. Why shouldn’t we
as dental students understand all of the manifestations of this and other
cardiac conditions?
On the reverse side, I do not expect my colleagues to list
all the teeth in the mouth with transverse ridges or cingula, but I do hope that
they could differentiate between a posterior and anterior tooth. Pharmacy
students and dental students shouldn’t be the only ones to understand which
drugs cause xerostomia or gingival enlargement. I expect my fellow students to
be fully versed in the symptoms and side effects of diabetes, from increased
risk of vision problems to increased risk of bleeding and infection from
periodontitis. As there are literally hundreds of systemic conditions (including
multiple malignancies) with oral manifestations, I’ve been surprised and
disappointed at how confused people outside the dental field respond to our
working knowledge of systemic diseases.
This is not a negative shot at the education of healthcare
professionals at all. We are all lifelong learners, and we undoubtedly are
absorbing as much information as we can through our curricula and our
individual research. I am sharing my thoughts on this phenomenon in an effort
to raise awareness of how we interact with our fellow healthcare professional
colleagues. We all joined this field because we love to heal and help patients.
By entering the health professions, we made a commitment to improving the
wellbeing of our patients through our specialties. All I ask is that we expect
more of one another. We owe it to ourselves, our colleagues, and our patients
to be prepared to recognize and refer pathology to the appropriate healthcare
specialist, even if it’s on the opposite end of our expertise. Yet another
professor once told me, “The eye cannot see what the mind does not know.” The
fruits of early diagnosis and proactive treatment begin with a commitment to
interdisciplinary knowledge and communication, and I hope that as students we
can push each other to educate and understand our patients and colleagues as
thoroughly as possible.