Is dentistry a profession? Part 3. Future challenges.

In 2 earlier articles a definition of professionalism was developed, and several specific professional responsibilities were deduced. This third and final article in the series examines whether dentistry qualifies as a profession. On various levels, the professionalism of dentistry is found wanting. However, attaining the status of a profession is a work in progress, which means that each profession will always have some deficiencies. The author concludes that dentistry qualifies as a profession but that it is also exhibiting a trend toward once again becoming a business (as it was before the 19th century). For the sake of honesty with the public, dentistry must make a choice between these 2 models.