title: Is dentistry a profession? Part 3. Future challenges.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy and Ethics, and Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68178, USA. jwelie@creighton.edu
authors.forename: Jos V M
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Welie
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D003813:Dentistry / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D004990:Ethics, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D024382:Professional Role; D012941:Social Responsibility