THE ART OF DENTISTRY - School of Dental Medicine - Case ...

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This article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2007 issue of Global Health Nexus, the magazine of the NYU College of
Dentistry. It is reprinted with permission of the NYU College of Dentistry.
JEROLD S. GOLDBERG, D.D.S. ’70, DEAN, SCHOOL OF DENTAL MEDICINE
DENTISTRY IN THE FUTURE –
IT’S THE JOURNEY
Dr. Paul Goldhaber, the former Dean at Harvard, is said to have remarked, “Dentists are the most over-educated people for what they
do and the most under-educated people for what they might do.” In recent years, a number of dental schools have begun to address
this imbalance, which is essentially a disconnect between the knowledge of basic science that dentists acquire in dental school and
the clinical science that they practice. But how far have we actually come in our ability not only to produce clinicians, but also to
educate dentists who demonstrate the added value that is the difference between a professional education and a technical education?
That question was on my mind in May,
2003, during a faculty and staff retreat
convened by the School of Dental Medicine
to consider the skills, knowledge, and values
that will define the superior dentist in 2020.
The retreat was intended as a first step in
designing a new curriculum to provide
CWRU students with the education required
to become superior dentists of the future.
As I listened to the discussions, I found
myself wondering what that future might
be. Would it be a refinement of the past,
a continuation of the status quo, or could
it be something bolder? And it occurred
to me that perhaps before we rethink the
curriculum, we should rethink the future
of dentistry. This essay is intended to
share my thoughts on the subject, rather
than to offer a prescription to others.
How well do we, in dental education,
promote a culture of inquiry and continuing
evaluation that consistently links basic
biological and clinical sciences in order to
produce not solely the next generation of
practitioners, but also the next generation
of educators and researchers? Are today’s
practicing dentists critically evaluating
their patients’ general health; frequently
writing prescriptions; routinely updating
their understanding of the new drugs
their patients may be taking; and are they
engaging in risk assessment and applying
this information to patient care?
Dentists and all healthcare professionals
must have a deep understanding of how
the body works, how disease processes occur,
and how interventions (both pharmacologic
and surgical) work. But dentists tend not
to think of themselves as treating disease,
which puts dentistry at a disadvantage
when it comes to public funding, because
policymakers only fund those who treat
disease. It is perhaps even more important
that we dentists know how to monitor
patients and help populations of patients
to maintain their health. To do this, we
must be able to find information, evaluate
it, and apply it to patient care. How else
can we continually evaluate new drugs and
procedures and bring new understanding
to issues related to health and disease? In
this regard, are we doing enough to help
our students understand newer technology,
to learn to think critically, and to conceptualize,
rather than to memorize. In short,
are we doing enough to enable them to
become lifelong learners?
Are we teaching students that an interdisciplinary
approach is no longer optional?
That whether we’re generalists or specialists,
we are integral members of the larger
medical and surgical healthcare team,
professionals who share a similar
background and vocabulary and bring
interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to
the challenge of improving the well-being
of individuals and populations?
I would hope that all dentists would
recognize untreated COPD (chronic
…before rethinking the curriculum, we first had
to rethink the future of dentistry…
obstructive pulmonary disease) in a
patient and would follow up to ensure
that the condition is being addressed.
Similarly, a prosthodontist might play
a role in smoking cessation; a general
dentist could assist his or her diabetic
patients in relation to weight loss; and,
on the flip side, physicians in rural areas
could benefit their patients by applying
fluoride varnishes. Perhaps it is time for
a team consisting of a dentist, advanced
technician, hygienist, and nurse practitioner
or physician’s assistant all working together
to provide a different array of care.