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Why are dentists called doctors?

I mean I refuse to call my dentist doctor, and keep saying Mr and today he just cracked and lost it and started saying I should have more respect for him and call him buy his proper title.

Reply 1

Sofa Kineezy

because they do things to parts of the body... wht wait a min...

Reply 2

History-Student

16

Do you also refuse to call PhDs doctor? Just curious.

They're called Dr. because that's the title accorded to them by virtue of their training & qualifications. Why do you have such an issue with it?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

username234673

17

Why do they only practice and not do it for real? :iiam:

Reply 4

clad in armour

16

Original post by Limitless

I mean I refuse to call my dentist doctor, and keep saying Mr and today he just cracked and lost it and started saying I should have more respect for him and call him buy his proper title.

what? first of all ask yourself, why are doctors called doctors, its just a tradition, real doctors are people that hold a PhD.
maybe their professional training has given them the right to call themselves thus. Why should it matter, get your teeth sorted then leave.......lol

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5

Limitless

OP

Original post by History-Student

Do you also refuse to call PhDs doctor? Just curious.

They're called Dr. because that's the title accorded to them by virtue of their training & qualifications. Why do you have such an issue with it?

No I call people with PhDs doctors but a dentist spends 5 years studying the mouth why should I call him a doctor for that?

Reply 6

Jellytots122

8

because they are doctors... but specialised in teeth and surrounding tissue.

Reply 7

Organ

13

They traditionally were not in the UK. They are dental surgeons and should be respected as such by being called Mr, Miss or Mrs ... just as I would call a consultant neurosurgeon Mr, Miss or Mrs.

This trend for calling themselves Dr. stems from the facts an increasingly large number of dentists are coming from places like Poland and India - where it is normal to be called Dr - these people hence call themselves Dr in the UK and british trained dentists call-themselves Dr in response so they don't appear sub-par.

edit: curious why people have negged this lol, why?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

History-Student

16

Original post by Limitless

No I call people with PhDs doctors but a dentist spends 5 years studying the mouth why should I call him a doctor for that?

If there were no dentistry courses, dentistry would be undertaken by doctors who chose to specialise in the mouth. Why should the dentist be judged because they chose their area of speciality at the start of their career? Would you judge a doctor focussed on an equally "small" area in the same way.

*Disclaimer: Most of what I just said could be incorrect. Feel free to correct me if that's the case.

Original post by clad in armour

what? first of all ask yourself, why are doctors called doctors, its just a tradition, real doctors are people that hold a PhD.

This I sort of agree with, but never mention because it either makes me sound like a nutter or people think I'm some sort of anti-medicine extremist. What would be a more appropriate title for Doctors?

Reply 9

battycatlady

13

Because typically a doctor is someone who treats people.
So they are a doctor of the mouth? :smile:

Does it really matter anyway?

Reply 10

Limitless

OP

Original post by Jellytots122

because they are doctors... but specialised in teeth and surrounding tissue.

They have training in basic medicine, if they specialise in teeth and surrounding tissue what is it called when dentist go on to specialise in things like orthodontists?

Original post by History-Student

If there were no dentistry courses, dentistry would be undertaken by doctors who chose to specialise in the mouth. Why should the dentist be judged because they chose their area of speciality at the start of their career? Would you judge a doctor focussed on an equally "small" area in the same way.

*Disclaimer: Most of what I just said could be incorrect. Feel free to correct me if that's the case.

This I sort of agree with, but never mention because it either makes me sound like a nutter or people think I'm some sort of anti-medicine extremist. What would be a more appropriate title for Doctors?

Reply 11

PhoenixFortune

21

My dentist is a Ms. I asked her about it once and she said she hates being called 'Dr.' :dontknow:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

clad in armour

16

Original post by History-Student

This I sort of agree with, but never mention because it either makes me sound like a nutter or people think I'm some sort of anti-medicine extremist. What would be a more appropriate title for Doctors?

Well the idea that it inspires trust is important, but then consultants dont have that title yet are still trusted. I doubt there is one

Reply 13

clad in armour

16

[QUOTE="Limitless;32629157"]They have training in basic medicine, if they specialise in teeth and surrounding tissue what is it called when dentist go on to specialise in things like orthodontists?

:laugh:

go tell that to any dents student

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 14

moorside

We've had a thread about this before, it's optional to call them a doctor. I call mine by his first name and he doesn't mind.

Previous thread 1

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 15

Good bloke

19

Original post by Limitless

why should I call him a doctor

I would humbly suggest that you should call him whatever he wishes. He is, after all, operating with driills, drugs and needles in a particularly sensitive part of your body and may, on occasion, be in a position to both remove and cause severe pain.

Reply 16

History-Student

16

Original post by PhoenixFortune

My dentist is a Ms. I asked her about it once and she said she hates being called 'Dr.' :dontknow:

I work for a research company & we did a survey with dentists recently. The last question was a confirmation of their name & there was a great variance between respondents about whether they wanted to be identified as Dr. or Mr/Mrs/Ms/etc.

Younger respondents tended to prefer Mr/Mrs etc., often they seemed hesitant to call themselves Dr. Seemed to us doing the surveys (tone of voice etc.) like they felt they hadn't earned it yet or something. Also male respondents tended to prefer Dr. more than female ones.

Guess it's a personal thing. Obviously the OP's dentist prefers Dr. and the OP should respect that.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 17

Astonix

14

It doesn't really matter too much. He's fixing your teeth, so you should respect him, because he's doing a far better job than you could.

Reply 18

mja

10

Original post by Limitless

I mean I refuse to call my dentist doctor, and keep saying Mr and today he just cracked and lost it and started saying I should have more respect for him and call him buy his proper title.

They clearly have no idea about 'proper' titles. There is no tradition of calling dental surgeons 'doctor' in England, just as there is no tradition of calling veterinary surgeons 'doctor' either.

The clue is in the word 'surgeon'. Physicians are 'doctor', surgeons are 'Mr', 'Miss' etc. This is why when junior doctors training to become surgeons become members of the Royal College of Surgeons they revert to Mr/Miss - whereas all physicians, from the newly qualified to the most eminent consultants are called 'doctor'.

So perhaps the correct response to your dentist is: if you're a 'doctor', you're not doing things to my teeth with instruments, because that is the proper province of a dental surgeon - and if you're calling yourself 'doctor' then you are clearly not a surgeon.

Reply 19

jameswhughes

19

None of my dentists have used the title 'doctor' :confused:

Why are dentists called doctors?

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