Expanding Our Scope

Dentistry has come a long way since the Middle Ages when barber-surgeons performed extractions and filled holes in teeth. As we learned in school, these "dentists" also performed hair grooming services and medical procedures, such as bloodletting, minor surgeries, and sometimes amputations—quite the diverse array of offerings. Not until the mid-eighteenth century would barbers, dentists, and surgeons be separated as professions. As contemporary dentistry took shape, the much more specific roles of dentists were established; however, in the century that followed, because of how these roles were defined and somewhat limited, many people came to view dentists merely as providers of restorations rather than true doctors of the oral cavity.