Nash D A
College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536, USA.
J Public Health Dent. 1996;56(5 Spec No):291-300. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-7325.1996.tb02454.x.
Artificially supplementing our community water supplies with optimal amounts of fluoride to gain the benefits of a significant reduction in dental caries is a lesson we have learned from natural science, a lesson from nature we have appropriated for culture- and a very pragmatic lesson. Today, we have discovered through science additional principles of nature that can be instructive and that can be appropriated for the profession of dentistry's benefit. This paper reviews five principles of natural science and derives lessons for the profession from these principles. The principles include natural selection, environmental change, form follows function, symbiosis, and entropy. Lessons derived from these principles of natural science are, respectively: survival and thriving of the profession are dependent upon the environment; the status quo will not be maintained-the profession must acknowledge, encourage, and celebrate change; the form the profession assumes must be consistent with its function of serving society; the profession must acknowledge the interdependence and reciprocity existing in its relationship with society; and the profession must continuously, energetically, and creatively reconstruct and renew itself. The challenge before us is to transform dentistry into a profession that continuously anticipates environmental changes by energetically creating new forms or structures that will result in more effective fulfillment of our function: gaining the benefits of oral health for society.
通过向我们的社区供水系统人工添加适量氟化物，以大幅减少龋齿，这是我们从自然科学中学到的一课，是我们为文化所汲取的自然之课，也是非常实用的一课。如今，我们通过科学发现了更多自然规律，这些规律具有指导意义，且能为牙科行业所用。本文回顾了五条自然科学原理，并从这些原理中为该行业总结出经验教训。这些原理包括自然选择、环境变化、形式追随功能、共生和熵。从这些自然科学原理中得出的经验教训分别是：该行业的生存与发展取决于环境；现状无法维持——该行业必须承认、鼓励并倡导变革；该行业呈现的形式必须与其服务社会的功能相一致；该行业必须认识到其与社会关系中存在的相互依存和互惠性；该行业必须持续、积极且创造性地进行自我重建和更新。我们面临的挑战是将牙科转变为一个通过积极创造新形式或结构来持续预测环境变化的行业，从而更有效地实现我们的功能：为社会带来口腔健康的益处。
