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I read with great interest the April JADA article, "Should Dentists Become ‘Oral Physicians’?", by Drs. Donald Giddon and Leon Assael. While both authors make some valid points, I believe the real issue is now at hand, and not in the future.

I do not think that anyone will dispute that dentists are presently physicians of the mouth. What has to be settled and cleared up is the public’s confusion as to what is the difference between a Doctor of Dental Surgery, or D.D.S., and a Doctor of Dental Medicine, or D.M.D.

The public is not aware that the two dental degrees provide the same privileges in the practice of dentistry, which has changed over the years from a surgically based profession to a medically based profession that incorporates both oral surgery disciplines and oral medicine.

What the profession needs to do is adopt one title for identification. Now may be the time to universally adopt the D.M.D. format, and discard the outdated D.D.S. degree.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goodman, S. F. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Goodman, S. F.