Of my favorite lessons in written and spoken English grammar was Redundancy. Redundancy is a grammatical error. For example, "TWO twins", "THREE triplets", "UNEXPECTED surprise", "NATURAL instinct" and so on. Why are these grammatically incorrect? Because, twins are always two; triplets are always three; a surprise is obviously unexpected and instincts are natural.. duh. Similarly, I believe the term "aesthetic dentistry" is highly redundant- Dentistry was, is and forever will be Aesthetic.
Yup, dentistry is aesthetic. When you restore and replace, providing a level of healthcare that feels and functions like the rest of the real stuff in the mouth, it is aesthetic. It is aesthetic when you cater to a cleft patient. It is aesthetic when you orthodontically treat malocclusion in an adenoid-affected child. It is aesthetic when you restore a carious tooth. It is aesthetic when you place an implant and do your best to ensure it does not look and feel like a prosthesis. There's no how good, no how bad, there is only how aesthetic the ultimate outcome of the treatment is. Does your patient think it looks and feels natural; if not immediately, atleast gradually? That is aesthetic. And ultimately all our treatment goals come down to, I repeat, how aesthetic a treatment is.
Back at Khan's when I was training, Dr.Mumtaz Khan elaborated on the difference between aesthetic and cosmetic. To put it plainly, aesthetic treatment is all I stated above and cosmetic is a patient demand based on what he specifically likes. Let's take plastic surgery:
Aesthetic demand is - " I want this cleft scar to go away from my upper lip." (It's a human feeling. The patient wants an abnormality removed).
Cosmetic demand is - "I want my lips to burst out like Angelina Jolie's " (Whether it makes me look like a clown or not - this is madness as I'd like to think.)
Now, let's take dentistry:
Aesthetic demand- "I want my teeth to look normal. My centre-teeth overlap and it looks ugly. Make them straight. Also, they are too dirty yellow. Make them a bit whiter."
Cosmetic demand-"I want a hollywood smile makeover and the kind of white teeth that glow in the dark."
That difference between white teeth and glow-in-the-dark white teeth is all the difference between how aesthetic and how cosmetic. It's also, in my opinion, the difference between sanity and madness. It is the difference between a need and a want, in a way. To some of us the line between the two is thin and to those who practice "consumer-centred dentistry" there is perhaps none- give the patient exactly what he asked for as long as you are well-fed. But to a principle-centered dentist there's all the difference in the world- provide the patient what he needs and wants as long as it agrees with sound clinical judgement. Come to think of it, dentistry is principle-centered. Quackery is consumer-centred. *Dr.Irfan's voice rings in my head, "mjhey qanoon pata hai" Oh how I miss debating!*
Any dentist with sound clinical judgement would know that Aesthetics are a component of our treatments. I think it should be so instead of it turning into a separate specialty- a redundant specialty. By creating a whole specialty we are:
A. reducing the quality of work of a general dentist or any other specialist to perform as aesthetically as is required/expected of a dentist. We are leaving aesthetics for a whole different set of practitioners to handle.
B. We are raising the cost dental treatments that are already pretty costly. A whole new specialty brings a whole new bunch of expenses.
C. We are slowly and gradually making the term "aesthetic" ambiguous and the same time synonymous with "cosmetic". We are encouraging madness in a public where aesthetic concerns are already turning into cosmetic ones.
D. Yes, we are in the business of improving health and self-esteem. But we are ever turning into businessmen more than healthcare providers should we continue being okay with "consumer-centred dentistry"
*Breathes. Laughs. Looks around to see what bottom-of-the-food-chain looks like. Puts her head down. Decides not to share on facebook. Daydreams about walking upto the podium and making a grand oration of the script above. Wakes up.*
Off to the kitchen to make some garlic bread. If Edgar Allan Poe can write goth and also anabelle lee.. than I can cook, dream and work to make my dreams come true.
Alhamdolillah for everything. =)
Yup, dentistry is aesthetic. When you restore and replace, providing a level of healthcare that feels and functions like the rest of the real stuff in the mouth, it is aesthetic. It is aesthetic when you cater to a cleft patient. It is aesthetic when you orthodontically treat malocclusion in an adenoid-affected child. It is aesthetic when you restore a carious tooth. It is aesthetic when you place an implant and do your best to ensure it does not look and feel like a prosthesis. There's no how good, no how bad, there is only how aesthetic the ultimate outcome of the treatment is. Does your patient think it looks and feels natural; if not immediately, atleast gradually? That is aesthetic. And ultimately all our treatment goals come down to, I repeat, how aesthetic a treatment is.
Back at Khan's when I was training, Dr.Mumtaz Khan elaborated on the difference between aesthetic and cosmetic. To put it plainly, aesthetic treatment is all I stated above and cosmetic is a patient demand based on what he specifically likes. Let's take plastic surgery:
Aesthetic demand is - " I want this cleft scar to go away from my upper lip." (It's a human feeling. The patient wants an abnormality removed).
Cosmetic demand is - "I want my lips to burst out like Angelina Jolie's " (Whether it makes me look like a clown or not - this is madness as I'd like to think.)
Now, let's take dentistry:
Aesthetic demand- "I want my teeth to look normal. My centre-teeth overlap and it looks ugly. Make them straight. Also, they are too dirty yellow. Make them a bit whiter."
Cosmetic demand-"I want a hollywood smile makeover and the kind of white teeth that glow in the dark."
That difference between white teeth and glow-in-the-dark white teeth is all the difference between how aesthetic and how cosmetic. It's also, in my opinion, the difference between sanity and madness. It is the difference between a need and a want, in a way. To some of us the line between the two is thin and to those who practice "consumer-centred dentistry" there is perhaps none- give the patient exactly what he asked for as long as you are well-fed. But to a principle-centered dentist there's all the difference in the world- provide the patient what he needs and wants as long as it agrees with sound clinical judgement. Come to think of it, dentistry is principle-centered. Quackery is consumer-centred. *Dr.Irfan's voice rings in my head, "mjhey qanoon pata hai" Oh how I miss debating!*
Any dentist with sound clinical judgement would know that Aesthetics are a component of our treatments. I think it should be so instead of it turning into a separate specialty- a redundant specialty. By creating a whole specialty we are:
A. reducing the quality of work of a general dentist or any other specialist to perform as aesthetically as is required/expected of a dentist. We are leaving aesthetics for a whole different set of practitioners to handle.
B. We are raising the cost dental treatments that are already pretty costly. A whole new specialty brings a whole new bunch of expenses.
C. We are slowly and gradually making the term "aesthetic" ambiguous and the same time synonymous with "cosmetic". We are encouraging madness in a public where aesthetic concerns are already turning into cosmetic ones.
D. Yes, we are in the business of improving health and self-esteem. But we are ever turning into businessmen more than healthcare providers should we continue being okay with "consumer-centred dentistry"
*Breathes. Laughs. Looks around to see what bottom-of-the-food-chain looks like. Puts her head down. Decides not to share on facebook. Daydreams about walking upto the podium and making a grand oration of the script above. Wakes up.*
Off to the kitchen to make some garlic bread. If Edgar Allan Poe can write goth and also anabelle lee.. than I can cook, dream and work to make my dreams come true.
Alhamdolillah for everything. =)
This is plain brilliant!! Making use of the word Redundancy here ;) I completely agree with each and every word and expression put in here!
ReplyDeleteThis a very far sighted thought of putting general dentists to extinction in the near future. As the trend is evolving, every general dentist shall be seeking certifications or maybe specializing into Aesthetic/Cosmetic Dentistry. Also in our part of the world, out of the dentally literate 99.6% of the population understands Cosmetic Dentistry as Aesthetic Dentistry and rest of the population considers these both as separate. Also striving to achieve greatness in Aesthetic/Cosmetic Dentistry, dentists nowadays are gradually moving on to the consumer-centered dentistry and forgetting the principle-based dentistry encouraging madness to an already over-their-heads public. May ALLAH guide and help us all in practicing, sane, principle-based dentistry. Aameen.
It's a sad reality. And the way it's trending I sometimes fear whether I'll see myself hopping onto the bandwagon too in the future. But best hope not. It's wonderful how new materials are evolving and a set of people have decided to take up studying aesthetics to ensure our gets better. But obviously monopolizing the concept just jumps onto consumer-centredness.
DeleteMay ALLAH guide and keep us steadfast. Aameen.