(May 13, 2022 at 8:13 pm)A. Secular Human Wrote:(May 13, 2022 at 4:04 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: That’s not an always thing. No idea how in works in the US, but dentists in most Commonwealth countries don’t always go to medical school - they get their undergraduate degree, then go to dental school. They’re also called ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’, not ‘Dr’.
In fact, here in NZ, dentists - by law - cannot call themselves ‘doctor’ unless they have (in addition to a dental degree) a medical degree or a PhD.
Boru
In the States, "DDS" means "Doctor of Dental Surgery". They can do surgery (in the mouth), and prescribe drugs. Here, dental school *is* medical school...specialized for dentists. It's beyond me why dentists get so little respect for what they've accomplished, and what they do.
I also don't understand why the mouth is treated separately, when it comes to the practice of medicine. It's even covered by separate insurance policies. Last time I checked, the mouth is also part of our body...
It’s even more extreme here - national health covers everything EXCEPT dental. Broken arm? You’re covered. Need flu meds? Covered. Need a tooth pulled? You either have private dental insurance or pay out of pocket.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson