When Drs. Donald Giddon and Leon Assael debated the question "Should Dentists Become ‘Oral Physicians’?" in April JADA, their positions on dentistry’s identity revolved around a name change. A name is a definition, a hope, an image and an advertisement. To those ends, dental name-changing has enjoyed an active, colorful history.
European dentists were once known variously as tooth-pullers, toothbreakers, operators for the teeth and even "kindharts," before they evolved into surgeon dentists and dental surgeons. Yet the modern term "dentist" is actually the oldest, dating to the 14th century, when French physician Guy de Chauliac proposed the development of a specialist surgeon to treat teeth.
De Chauliac considered calling this new specialist a "dentator," coining a term from Latin, but settled on another version, "dentista," the name that came to identify the whole profession. A semantic shift away from that ancient designation would have to address not only the new oral physicians, but the title of the profession itself.
Dental specialties already have some experience in name and identity change. The former "pedodontics" is "pediatric dentistry." Oral surgery, which itself once existed as "exodontia," was renamed "oral and maxillofacial surgery." "Orthodontics" wiggled out of "orthodontosie," moved on to "orthodontia," and finally emerged as "orthodontics" and "dentofacial orthopedics."
But the process of choosing a new name for the whole profession would be more complicated. "Dental medicine," as the D.M.D. degree suggests, might be a good name for dentistry, but it seems to shut the door on surgery, the heart of what most oral physicians would probably still do. "Oral medicine" has a broader feel, but could sound to the public like pill pushing. Besides, that moniker already means something more specific within the profession. "Dental surgery," which the D.D.S. degree calls to mind, rightfully should be called "oral surgery," to include the things we do to cheeks, gums, bone and other supporting structures. But that name is also taken.
We could also consider the Greek-based "odontology," which still focuses on teeth, but sounds weightier because the "ology" part connotes research. Several specialties, including periodontology and endodontology, have already expanded their suffixes in that direction. How about harnessing "odontology" to "stomatology"? Stomatology, the study of the mouth, is inclusive. Dental school stomatology departments stand guard over a grab bag of disciplines, including oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology and periodontology.
So an oral physician’s profession would surely labor under a compound title. Patients—to whom some dentists and dental hygienists now refer as "clients"—will still call me a dentist, but in the future I may be practicing odontostomatological medicine and surgery. I’ll need bigger business cards.
