Fal l 2022 www.nvda.org 5 Letter to the Editor dental services are being rendered by a highly-trained doctor, not an expanded function dental assistant, dental therapist, etc. Dental schools, DSO delivery models, hospitals, HPSA clinics, pharmacies, insurance companies, and dental benefits administrators often use the term “provider” when referring to delivery of dental care. This most likely is being done for administrative financial gain ultimately, as patients may be duped into accepting care being rendered by someone less qualified than a doctor. Again, this legerdemain allows for lower reimbursement by dental benefit plans while allowing indirect oversight of dental auxiliaries in the best interests of not patients, but corporate office administrators and shareholders. This issue is more important today than ever before. We all worked very hard to obtain the title doctor. Particularly in hospital environments, OMS, anesthesiologists, and hospital trained GPR residents shine as being second-to-none, as very dedicated and knowledgeable doctors while interacting in medicine, general surgery, anesthesia, and in the emergency room, where for years dental related visits have been rising significantly, approaching 10% in some communities.6 Sadly, today in the hospital and emergency rooms, a patient has no idea whether the person treating them is a physician, a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or medical assistant as they are all referred to as providers. It is important to retain dentistry’s rightful designation as doctors. The ADA’s mission statement is to help dentists succeed and support the advancement of public health. No matter if we are DDS’s, DMD’s, or References Orr D, Fool Me Once, Fool Me Again, NDAJ, 24:2, 2-3, 2022. Kelman B, Stunning Consequences of Unbrushed Teeth, Medscape News & Perspective, 12 JUL 2022,, https://www.medscape.com/ viewarticle/977009?src=wnl_tp10_daily_220718_. Scarff J, What’s in a Name? The Problematic Term “Provider,” Fed Pract, 38(10), 446-448, OCT 2021. Beasley JW, Roberts RG, Goroll AH, Promting trust and morale by changing how the word provider is used: encouraging specificity and transparency, JAMA, 325(23), 2343-2344, 2021. Nasrallah HA, We are physicians, not providers, and we treat patients, not clients!, Curr Psychiatr, 19(2) 5-7, 2020. Ungar L, ER visits for dental problems on the rise, USA Today, JUN 29 2015, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/29/er-dental- visits/29492599/. Accessed 20 JUL 2022. 1 2 3 4 5 6 equivalent degree holders, we should not succumb to these pressures to self-designate as providers, no matter what the ADA HOD and outside entities want us to be known as. 0 We are not the American Dental Provider Association *Dr. Saxe is a Board Certified OMS in Las Vegas.
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