title: Medicine and dentistry: the dawn of the fourth age.
abstract: Medicine-bashing is in vogue; but is there substance behind the empty 'sound bites'; cheap shots and screaming headlines, or is it all just political rhetoric? This essay examines some of the issues and tries to place the costs and technologicalization of medicine and dentistry in a perspective of historical development. The truth is that there is much truth in the criticisms. Howsoever, this is not a jeremiad essay--solutions to our problems exist and they are not Utopian--the real question is whether we are able to learn and put into our practice our lessons.
authors.affiliation: Dentistry Department, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Leonard
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005060:Europe; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000266:history; D013674:Technology, Dental / Q000266:history; D013675:Technology, High-Cost / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States