Good day nairalanders! Please, there is a friend of mine who is interested in becoming a dental surgeon(dentist) but she is skeptical of her chance of getting to the peak of medical practice in Nigeria such as becoming consultant, heading a hospital as Chief medical director, medical director, chairman medical advisory committee, principal medical officer etc, as it's obtained in medicine. Is Dentistry inferior to Medicine? Are there sub specialties in Dentistry where one can specialize, and most importantly, do dentists earn less than other doctors in Nigeria?
Please, doctors in the house, shed some light on this matter. Thanks!

First of all how old and what level in life is your friend? I hate giving proper advice only to find out the person is a jambite. It has happened to me many times on this forum.
If she is a jambite advice her to study the course anyway. The only problem with being a dentist is anything she wants to involve in will only concern human teeth. If she's a graduate she has already reached a point in life to figure things out herself.

okwabayi:
First of all how old and what level in life is your friend? I hate giving proper advice only to find out the person is a jambite. It has happened to me many times on this forum.
If she is a jambite advice her to study the course anyway. The only problem with being a dentist is anything she wants to involve in will only concern human teeth. If she's a graduate she has already reached a point in life to figure things out herself.

How does oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, periodontology, oral/maxillofacial pathology or medicine, etc concerns only the human teeth. The problem I have with some people here is commenting on something they know little or nothing about without adequate research.

FreeConCiencE:
Good day nairalanders! Please, there is a friend of mine who is interested in becoming a dental surgeon(dentist) but she is skeptical of her chance of getting to the peak of medical practice in Nigeria such as becoming consultant, heading a hospital as Chief medical director, medical director, chairman medical advisory committee, principal medical officer etc, as it's obtained in medicine. Is Dentistry inferior to Medicine? Are there sub specialties in Dentistry where one can specialize, and most importantly, do dentists earn less than other doctors in Nigeria?
Please, doctors in the house, shed some light on this matter. Thanks!

Very obviously, people have limited knowledge about the field of dentistry. I have tried to create some awareness not withstanding my busy schedule. There's a post on nairaland which expounded adequately on the curriculum of dentistry and answered all the questions you have asked. You can google it.

But in a nutshell:
. Dentistry is a 6year course leading to the award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree.
. Involves training in both Medicine (mbbs exams with exception of the 4th mb) and dentistry (bds exams), hence considered by many as the most stressful course of study
. When the term "medical doctor" is used by medical professionals, dentists are not exempted. The term "medically qualified" is applicable to only medical and dental doctors.
. Both Medical and dental doctors belong to the same body of Doctors (NMA, MDCN)
. Both are paid the same salary with same salary scale (CONMESS)
. Both undergo postgraduate trainings in West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to become Specialists/Consultants
. None is inferior to the other as the posts of Chief Medical Director is restricted to the duo.

Fields in dentistry where one can specialise is as follows:
-oral/maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, oral medicine, periodontology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, community dentistry, prosthodontics etc

The only problem here is if your friend will be prepared to go through the hectic academic schedule as many of the students end up failing out after the first professional exam (2nd mbbs) and subsequent exams.

FreeConCiencE:
Good day nairalanders! Please, there is a friend of mine who is interested in becoming a dental surgeon(dentist) but she is skeptical of her chance of getting to the peak of medical practice in Nigeria such as becoming consultant, heading a hospital as Chief medical director, medical director, chairman medical advisory committee, principal medical officer etc, as it's obtained in medicine. Is Dentistry inferior to Medicine? Are there sub specialties in Dentistry where one can specialize, and most importantly, do dentists earn less than other doctors in Nigeria?
Please, doctors in the house, shed some light on this matter. Thanks!

Dentistry aint inferior to medicine,,
Dental Doctors and Medical Doctors, Get the same treatment.

okwabayi:
First of all how old and what level in life is your friend? I hate giving proper advice only to find out the person is a jambite. It has happened to me many times on this forum.
If she is a jambite advice her to study the course anyway. The only problem with being a dentist is anything she wants to involve in will only concern human teeth. If she's a graduate she has already reached a point in life to figure things out herself.

Next time, shut up about things you know nothing about.

No be by force to be seen "talking too".

Gamesmart:


Next time, shut up about things you know nothing about.

No be by force to be seen "talking too".

What? I'm sorry I don't reduce myself to trading insults online. I'll leave the act to the unrefined lot.

okwabayi:

What? I'm sorry I don't reduce myself to trading insults online. I'll leave the act to the unrefined lot.

The more important act is never to reduce yourself to commenting on things you are ignorant about just to show you are "talking too" and "refined".

No be by force to talk. It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Mikolion87:


Very obviously, people have limited knowledge about the field of dentistry. I have tried to create some awareness not withstanding my busy schedule. There's a post on nairaland which expounded adequately on the curriculum of dentistry and answered all the questions you have asked. You can google it.

But in a nutshell:
. Dentistry is a 6year course leading to the award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree.
. Involves training in both Medicine (mbbs exams with exception of the 4th mb) and dentistry (bds exams), hence considered by many as the most stressful course of study
. When the term "medical doctor" is used by medical professionals, dentists are not exempted. The term "medically qualified" is applicable to only medical and dental doctors.
. Both Medical and dental doctors belong to the same body of Doctors (NMA, MDCN)
. Both are paid the same salary with same salary scale (CONMESS)
. Both undergo postgraduate trainings in West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to become Specialists/Consultants
. None is inferior to the other as the posts of Chief Medical Director is restricted to the duo.

Fields in dentistry where one can specialise is as follows:
-oral/maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, oral medicine, periodontology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, community dentistry, prosthodontics etc

The only problem here is if your friend will be prepared to go through the hectic academic schedule as many of the students end up failing out after the first professional exam (2nd mbbs) and subsequent exams.

A dentist with the BDS degree with a desire to practise in in the United Kingdom, How foes he/she go about it + what'sthe duration of program over there ?

please enlighten me dude. I'm

Mikolion87:


Very obviously, people have limited knowledge about the field of dentistry. I have tried to create some awareness not withstanding my busy schedule. There's a post on nairaland which expounded adequately on the curriculum of dentistry and answered all the questions you have asked. You can google it.

But in a nutshell:
. Dentistry is a 6year course leading to the award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree.
. Involves training in both Medicine (mbbs exams with exception of the 4th mb) and dentistry (bds exams), hence considered by many as the most stressful course of study
. When the term "medical doctor" is used by medical professionals, dentists are not exempted. The term "medically qualified" is applicable to only medical and dental doctors.
. Both Medical and dental doctors belong to the same body of Doctors (NMA, MDCN)
. Both are paid the same salary with same salary scale (CONMESS)
. Both undergo postgraduate trainings in West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to become Specialists/Consultants
. None is inferior to the other as the posts of Chief Medical Director is restricted to the duo.

Fields in dentistry where one can specialise is as follows:
-oral/maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, oral medicine, periodontology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, community dentistry, prosthodontics etc

The only problem here is if your friend will be prepared to go through the hectic academic schedule as many of the students end up failing out after the first professional exam (2nd mbbs) and subsequent exams.

Bro, A dentist with the BDS degree that desires to practise in the United Kingdom. How does he/she go about it ? + what's the duration of program over there ?

Mikolion87:


Very obviously, people have limited knowledge about the field of dentistry. I have tried to create some awareness not withstanding my busy schedule. There's a post on nairaland which expounded adequately on the curriculum of dentistry and answered all the questions you have asked. You can google it.

But in a nutshell:
. Dentistry is a 6year course leading to the award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree.
. Involves training in both Medicine (mbbs exams with exception of the 4th mb) and dentistry (bds exams), hence considered by many as the most stressful course of study
. When the term "medical doctor" is used by medical professionals, dentists are not exempted. The term "medically qualified" is applicable to only medical and dental doctors.
. Both Medical and dental doctors belong to the same body of Doctors (NMA, MDCN)
. Both are paid the same salary with same salary scale (CONMESS)
. Both undergo postgraduate trainings in West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to become Specialists/Consultants
. None is inferior to the other as the posts of Chief Medical Director is restricted to the duo.

Fields in dentistry where one can specialise is as follows:
-oral/maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, oral medicine, periodontology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, community dentistry, prosthodontics etc

The only problem here is if your friend will be prepared to go through the hectic academic schedule as many of the students end up failing out after the first professional exam (2nd mbbs) and subsequent exams.

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist. Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

Mikolion87:


Very obviously, people have limited knowledge about the field of dentistry. I have tried to create some awareness not withstanding my busy schedule. There's a post on nairaland which expounded adequately on the curriculum of dentistry and answered all the questions you have asked. You can google it.

But in a nutshell:
. Dentistry is a 6year course leading to the award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree.
. Involves training in both Medicine (mbbs exams with exception of the 4th mb) and dentistry (bds exams), hence considered by many as the most stressful course of study
. When the term "medical doctor" is used by medical professionals, dentists are not exempted. The term "medically qualified" is applicable to only medical and dental doctors.
. Both Medical and dental doctors belong to the same body of Doctors (NMA, MDCN)
. Both are paid the same salary with same salary scale (CONMESS)
. Both undergo postgraduate trainings in West African College of Surgeons and National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to become Specialists/Consultants
. None is inferior to the other as the posts of Chief Medical Director is restricted to the duo.

Fields in dentistry where one can specialise is as follows:
-oral/maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, oral medicine, periodontology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, community dentistry, prosthodontics etc

The only problem here is if your friend will be prepared to go through the hectic academic schedule as many of the students end up failing out after the first professional exam (2nd mbbs) and subsequent exams.

with the way you reduced that other guy to nothingness, one would think you are omniscient in things pertaining to Dentistry.

Alas, you're infallible....

angiography:



with the way you reduced that other guy to nothingness, one would think you are omniscient in things pertaining to Dentistry.

Alas, you're infallible....

That is my field, so I think I'm adequately informed to a commensurate degree to counter any ill information. By the way, I haven't claimed to be infallible, but I think that before anyone dishes out any info about any area,one should arm oneself with adequate information.

yinks1255:

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist. Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

My bro, just like you rightly said, you're not in the medical line, so you shouldn't come here and spew out what you don't know. You think that because a dentist you met was unable to tell you the category of the drug fluconazole, then it's because he studied dentistry. That is exactly what I'm talking about when I said,people should not comment on areas they know nothing about... Unfortunately I cannot cure everybody's ignorance. It's your problem not mine.

First of all, dentists do not just set out into studying "dentistry"... They first of all undergo rigorous medical training. They do Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Pathology , which they write as 3rd MBBS exam, together with students of medicine in their 4th year.

Secondly, a dentist can also pursue a postgraduate degree (Masters) in Pharmacology if he so chooses, and perform ground breaking research in Pharmacology. One of my lecturers in Oral medicine (a field of dentistry), also has a postgraduate in Pharmacology. As a matter of fact, there's a new rule passed across all medical schools in Nigeria, that only MBBS and BDS doctors will now be employable to teach Pharmacology In medical schools (pre-clinicals).

Now, you should bear in mind that, any doctor can forget any area of medicine.. As a matter of fact, when a doctor specializes, he tends to forget the details of other areas not relevant to his field of specialty, but knows more about his own field. It is not an uncommon happening. Doctors have a need to specialize cos a jack of all thread is a master of none. Consider dentists as specialized medical doctors, who start to specialize early enough from undergraduate, studying both Medicine/surg alongside Dentistry/dental surgery.

Coming to performing Surgeries in the theaters, do you think dentists don't perform complex surgeries too in theaters?..Lol. Can you allow someone with little medical training to operate in your mouth to remove tumors and reconstruct the face, or repair broken facial bones, or repair congenital defects like Cleft palate or lip.. Obviously, you don't know much about dental surgeries,so don't even go there. Same way a medical doctor cannot perform dental surgeries, a dentist cannot also perform surgeries in other areas cos it's not his specialty, even though dentists are also trained in almost every specialty of Medicine and Surgery (with only exception of a few areas,like urology, obstetrics/gynaecology, and paediatrics).Even in the medical field, not every area in surgery can be practiced by every doctor,except you're a specialist in that field, e.g, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, opthalmology,ENT etc,because it requires absolute detail which only a specialist in that field knows.

So, as you can see.. There are a lot you don't know about dentistry and the field of medicine at large.. Just like I stated earlier, Dentists can be described as specialized medical doctors cos, they begin specializing early enough from undergraduate,while studying medicine alongside... So,it's in no way inferior to Medicine and surgery, because they are trained in both Medicine and Dentistry. If not, why would they also be called "Doctors" (even without a doctorate degree), and paid same salary with their other medical colleagues? That's cos they are not inferior to them. As a matter of fact, Dentists should be superior based on course load and training.

My advice is that, next time,get your facts straight before commenting about any field you know little or nothing about.

HumbleBoy21:
Bro, A dentist with the BDS degree that desires to practise in the United Kingdom. How does he/she go about it ? + what's the duration of program over there ?

You're required to write ORE (Oversea Registration Exam) and IELTS.. After which you'll be given a license to practice. You're not required to go back to school like in the US... You can Google and read more about it.

Mikolion87:


That is my field, so I think I'm adequately informed to a commensurate degree to counter any ill information. By the way, I haven't claimed to be infallible, but I think that before anyone dishes out any info about any area,one should arm oneself with adequate information.

But you're not totally correct...or maybe you're talking based on the med school you went...

angiography:


But you're not totally correct...or maybe you're talking based on the med school you went...

Everything I wrote is the fact,and I have no need to lie about anything. I also know that some universities have slight disparity in their dental curriculum. For instance,some do Comm med (either uniben or UI, not too sure which again), while some don't. But generally, Dental students receive a lot of training in Medicine everywhere. Everything I wrote about is the way it is (especially in UNN)

yinks1255:

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist. Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

What's concerns a dentist with removing fibroid
you've made yourself clear sef.....you said you're not into medicine ....

Izzykid:





What's concerns a dentist with removing fibroid
you've made yourself clear sef.....you said you're not into medicine ....

If u dont know what d argument is about, why must u comment?

yinks1255:

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist.[b] Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. [/b]Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

Ignorance is Evil

Have you seen a Neurosurgeon diagnosing a disease of the heart? so Is Neurosurgery also a restricted field?

khingTony:


Ignorance is Evil

Have you seen a Neurosurgeon diagnosing a disease of the heart? so Is Neurosurgery also a restricted field?

Ignorance is really evil. So u are trying to tell me only cardiologist can diagnose heart diseases. A neurosurgeon is a doctor and any doctor can diagnose some heart disease e.g myocardial infarction. But I bet a dentist can't. Dentistry is inferior to medicine period. Pls argue with someone else, I dont want anymore mentions

yinks1255:

Ignorance is really evil. So u are trying to tell me only cardiologist can diagnose heart diseases. A neurosurgeon is a doctor and any doctor can diagnose some heart disease e.g myocardial infarction. But I bet a dentist can't. Dentistry is inferior to medicine period. Pls argue with someone else, I dont want anymore mentions

well, you own your mouth hands, you can say type anything you want, given that it'll help you sleep well at night

"A neurosurgeon is a doctor and any doctor can blah blah blah"
So a dentist is a what? Nurse? Ignorance at its peak

yinks1255:

Ignorance is really evil. So u are trying to tell me only cardiologist can diagnose heart diseases. A neurosurgeon is a doctor and any doctor can diagnose some heart disease e.g myocardial infarction. But I bet a dentist can't. Dentistry is inferior to medicine period. Pls argue with someone else, I dont want anymore mentions

if this won't cure your ignorance, then im afraid, nothing will

so run along, Ignoramus

yinks1255:

If u dont know what d argument is about, why must u comment?

well I just corrected one of the many errors in your message...so yes I know what's the argument is about
And I can recall that you a Software Engineer so stick to your profession and dont come and badmouth another here

yinks1255:

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist. Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

You just wrote trash here. Let me ask you: is it every medical doctor that can remove fibroid? It's not! Stop commenting on what you know nothing about. Every dentist did full pharmacology the same way a medical doctor did. He might have forgotten over the years. Even medical doctors do forget too. It's not a yardstick to judge Dentistry ignorantly. There is a branch of Dentistry called oral and maxillofacial surgery that does full scope of surgery on the face, jaw, even on the skull (not the brain), and even towards the neck. There's another one called oral pathology that diagnoses cancer, benign tumors and other diseases on the oral and maxillofacial areas before surgery can take place, just as a general pathologist who is a medical doctor can do on other parts of the body. There is another one called oral and maxillofacial radiology that interprets oral and maxillofacial radiographs and also does it too. That dentist may have forgotten or he's a new graduate. Medicine and Dentistry are so vast that you can easily forget things. No one is above mistake. A 500 level medical student told me of how a newly graduated medical doctor who did NYSC in his teaching hospital wrote a prescription of a drug meant for intramuscular injection to be given intravenously, and the patient died. So, the mistake is not limited to a dentist. It's the job of a pharmacist to cross-check prescription before administration. Research about a course before displaying your ignorance here.

yinks1255:

The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

You see another ignorance you displayed again. Any scientist can research about drugs, but the main scientists in charge of drug discovery professionally are the pharmacists (not medical doctors) as you ignorantly said here. Medical doctors and dentists are only good at pharmacology, while a production pharmacist's job is to research and produce drugs, and he knows pharmacology very well too. Note: as i said earlier, any natural, medical or biological scientist can research about drugs, even traditional medicine healers can do that too. So, pharmacist's research is not limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. You're just so ignorant of all these professions. Stop displaying your stark ignorance here, BIKO!

yinks1255:

I'm not into medicine, I'm a software engineer and I once worked with doctors on a project. It got to a stage were I had to map some drugs to their respective categories. Theres this dentist who couldn't give me the category to minor drugs like fluconazole, clairythromycin etc All he knew were diclofenac etc. The doctor and pharmacist around wont even wait a micro second to give me the category they all belong. nd I dont want to believe the guy wasnt good enough as a result of poor institutions is nigeria(Cos that happens a lot). I believe its because he studied dentistry. And regarding your post condemning okwabayi, u just want to claim you know better. The field of medicine is not what u think. Even as a doctor, there's limit to how u can practice, most cases, u have to refer to a specialist. Have u ever seen a dentist in a theatre removing fibroid or performing similar surgery. But any doctor can do this. Even a house doctor can do this. Dentistry is a restricted field just like other medical field. Unfortunately, Medicine is the champion. Even when it comes to drug research. The major scientist that engage in discovery of new drugs are doctors(some of these doctors have postgraduate degrees is courses like pharmacology). Pharmacists research is limited to studying the already discovered drugs to determine how it works. How long it took to digest, where d digestion started etc(pharmacokinetics, pharmakogenetics etc) At the end, the research pharmacist only tell how best it should be used(dosage), contraindications and the likes. If u want to go the medical line, go for medicine. Then u can venture into whatever u like(Dentistry, Physiology, pharmacology, Medical biology etc) to do with greater authority.

Again, a dentist is a dental doctor or dental surgeon. They are on the same salary grade as medical doctors; he can be a chief medical director or medical director, Chairman, medical advisory committee (CMAC); he belongs to the same bodies of medical doctors called Nigeria Medical Association and Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria (MDCAN), can be a consultant if he specializes in any branch of Dentistry like any of those ones i listed before, can be called fellow of West African College of Surgeons (FWACS) if he becomes a consultant, just like a medical doctor who specialized in Surgery, or a fellow of Nigerian Medical College in Dental Surgery (FMCDS). As of last year, a dentist was the president of National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Prof. Abayomi Olaitan. I have seen many dentists who have been chairmen of Nigeria Medical Association in their various state branches. Even in Ghana, Prof. Francis Addo-Ababio, a dentist, was formerly the President of Ghana Medical Association. So, in essence and reality, Dentistry is a branch of Medicine and enjoys all the privileges that Medicine enjoys, at least here in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Ignorance is a disease!

yinks1255:

Ignorance is really evil. So u are trying to tell me only cardiologist can diagnose heart diseases. A neurosurgeon is a doctor and any doctor can diagnose some heart disease e.g myocardial infarction. But I bet a dentist can't. Dentistry is inferior to medicine period. Pls argue with someone else, I dont want anymore mentions

I can bet you that a neurosurgeon "may" not be able to diagnose some heart diseases. The more you specialize, the more you forget about other areas of medicine. I have seen orthopedic surgeons who cannot interpret ECG to determine a heart problem, or generally, most surgeons cannot. If you ask them why they cannot do that, their answer is simple: "i'm an orthopaedic surgeon; i'm not a cardiologist." Do you want to tell me that since they cannot interpret ECG that they're not medical doctors? Answer me. Besides, physicians such as paediatricians, dermatologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, etc cannot perform surgery. So, medicine is vast. Stop displaying ignorance; seek wise counsel. It will help you.

Argument don end?

Mikolion87:


My bro, just like you rightly said, you're not in the medical line, so you shouldn't come here and spew out what you don't know. You think that because a dentist you met was unable to tell you the category of the drug fluconazole, then it's because he studied dentistry. That is exactly what I'm talking about when I said,people should not comment on areas they know nothing about... Unfortunately I cannot cure everybody's ignorance. It's your problem not mine.

First of all, dentists do not just set out into studying "dentistry"... They first of all undergo rigorous medical training. They do Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Pathology , which they write as 3rd MBBS exam, together with students of medicine in their 4th year.

Secondly, a dentist can also pursue a postgraduate degree (Masters) in Pharmacology if he so chooses, and perform ground breaking research in Pharmacology. One of my lecturers in Oral medicine (a field of dentistry), also has a postgraduate in Pharmacology. As a matter of fact, there's a new rule passed across all medical schools in Nigeria, that only MBBS and BDS doctors will now be employable to teach Pharmacology In medical schools (pre-clinicals).

Now, you should bear in mind that, any doctor can forget any area of medicine.. As a matter of fact, when a doctor specializes, he tends to forget the details of other areas not relevant to his field of specialty, but knows more about his own field. It is not an uncommon happening. Doctors have a need to specialize cos a jack of all thread is a master of none. Consider dentists as specialized medical doctors, who start to specialize early enough from undergraduate, studying both Medicine/surg alongside Dentistry/dental surgery.

Coming to performing Surgeries in the theaters, do you think dentists don't perform complex surgeries too in theaters?..Lol. Can you allow someone with little medical training to operate in your mouth to remove tumors and reconstruct the face, or repair broken facial bones, or repair congenital defects like Cleft palate or lip.. Obviously, you don't know much about dental surgeries,so don't even go there. Same way a medical doctor cannot perform dental surgeries, a dentist cannot also perform surgeries in other areas cos it's not his specialty, even though dentists are also trained in almost every specialty of Medicine and Surgery (with only exception of a few areas,like urology, obstetrics/gynaecology, and paediatrics).Even in the medical field, not every area in surgery can be practiced by every doctor,except you're a specialist in that field, e.g, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, opthalmology,ENT etc,because it requires absolute detail which only a specialist in that field knows.

So, as you can see.. There are a lot you don't know about dentistry and the field of medicine at large.. Just like I stated earlier, Dentists can be described as specialized medical doctors cos, they begin specializing early enough from undergraduate,while studying medicine alongside... So,it's in no way inferior to Medicine and surgery, because they are trained in both Medicine and Dentistry. If not, why would they also be called "Doctors" (even without a doctorate degree), and paid same salary with their other medical colleagues? That's cos they are not inferior to them. As a matter of fact, Dentists should be superior based on course load and training.

My advice is that, next time,get your facts straight before commenting about any field you know little or nothing about.

Good afternoon boss... Are you a dentist or a dental student. Please I need to talk to you personally to get some more detailed information about dentistry and to get answers to many questions in my head... Please send your whatsapp number to my mail justiceomodiagbe@gmail.com.
Thanks in anticipation.

ejehijustice:
Good afternoon boss... Are you a dentist or a dental student. Please I need to talk to you personally to get some more detailed information about dentistry and to get answers to many questions in my head... Please send your whatsapp number to my mail justiceomodiagbe@gmail.com.
Thanks in anticipation.

I'm a doctor (dental surgeon)

Since you haven't mentioned all the details, it's hard for me to give you a good answer. If your friend needs help, I think the best option is to contact someone who has a good amount of experience. For example, for me, jeffreygrossdds.com was super helpful, and he gave me all the information and support I needed. I'm not sure if he knows the details about Nigeria, but I think it's worth getting in touch with him. At least, he will listen to your friend's plans and might give her his point of view.