Almost everyone has dental disease.  Therefore, efforts to screen the public for dental disease are of little value.  Dental programs should emphasize treatment and preventive procedures.

Irreversibility of disease

Much of the damage arising from most common oral diseases, for instance tooth decay or bone loss, is irreversible.  Treatment can usually intercept the spread of oral diseases, but often cannot reverse the damage to oral tissues.

Elective treatments

Many dental treatments are elective - for a time.  However, postponement of treatment usually aggravates the condition.

Preventive care

In general, preventive measures show a much higher rate of success in dental diseases than in diseases affecting other parts of the body.  Therefore, American dental practice is preventive-oriented.

Non-institutional care

Nearly all dental procedures are performed in a non-institutional setting.  However, it should be noted that 3 per cent of total admissions to hospitals are for dentally related services and about 550,000 hospital operations are performed by dentists each year.

Overhead expenses

Dentists, unlike physicians, must build their own clinical facilities.  As a result, the costs of operating a dental practice generally well exceed the costs of operating most types of medical practices.

Cost containment

Dental care costs to the patient have risen less during the past decade than other health care costs.  Generally, increases in dentists’ fees have approximated increases in the overall economy.  Other health care costs have risen at a much faster rate than the over-all economy.

Specialization

The vast majority of active dentists, about 85 per cent, are general family practitioners.  Approximately 15 per cent of practicing physicians are general family practitioners.  Most physicians practice in one of 23 medical specialties.  Dentistry has 8 specialties.

Insurability and care

Dental “insurance” is not true insurance, because due to the universality of oral diseases, everyone is a risk.  Dental “insurance” programs are actually pre-paid group plans.  There is virtually no dental insurance available for individuals.

Organization

The dental profession has its own education system, licensure system, code of ethics and peer review system.  These systems parallel their medical counterparts, but are unique to dentistry’s needs.  Physicians are not familiar with the complex oral health procedures, latest developments in dentistry, or the intricacies of dental practice.  Only dentists, therefore, can be involved in decision making for the dental community.