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Dentists |
Generally speaking, the work a dentist performs is surgical in nature, but, dentists also often treat many ailments of the oral cavity and face chemotherapeutically (i.e. with prescribed medicines). Like physicians, dentists are autonomously practicing
doctors, the majority of whom (in different specialties, but usually oral surgery)
have hospital and/or privileges identical to those of physicians. General
dentists most often will not focus their clinical practice on just one particular
discipline within dentistry, but rather they will offer dental care across a variety of
disciplines. Dentists often will tend to hone their training or skills in one
or more specialty areas (such as surgery, endodontics, orthodontics, etc.).
Due to this, there is often a large degree of variation between the level of skill in
different disciplines from doctor to doctor, however all dentists must attain to a
certain degree of skill in various disciplines so that they may graduate from dental
school and earn licensure.
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General practitioners (as opposed to specialists), take the option of choosing which
services certain dentists will provide, and which dentists will be refered to specialists. It is crucial to understand that the majority of general practitioners perform restorative, prosthetic, routine periodontal therapy, routine endodontic therapy, and basic exodontia, as well as routine examinations. Some are even comfortable treating
more complex patients, as well as placing implants and extracting third
molars (wisdom teeth); as well as a few other procedures frequently referred to specialists.
Despite what many think, very few dentists actually clean teeth, they
will usually delegate this task to a support staff (e.g. dental assistants and
hygienists). And while some general dentists will advertise themselves as
"cosmetic dentists", this is actually a dishonest practice, because cosmetic
dentistry is not an ADA-recognized specialty. Advertising their practice as
offering "family and cosmetic dentistry", however, is perfectly legit. | |
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