Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 18 text:

Oral Diagnosis DANIEL E. ZISKIN D.D.S. Associate Professor of Dentistry r i rik f! HAROLD J. LEONARD JOSEPH O FOURNIER LEWIS R. STOVVE S. N. ROSENSTEIN D.D.S., A.B. D.D.S. D.D.S. B.S., D.D.S. Professor ol Dentistry Assist. Prof, of Dentistry Assoc. Prof, of Dentistry Assist. Prof, of Dentistry EDWARD V. ZEGARELLI A.B., D.D.S. Assist, in Dentistry HENRY J. POWELL B.S.. D.D.S. Assist, in Dentistry

Page 17 text:

Oral Surgery HENRY SAGE DUNNING D.D.S., M.D., B.S. Professor of Dentistry ADOLPH BERGER DD.S. William Carr, Prof, of Oral Surgery r i JOSEPH SCHROFF DOUGLAS B. PARKER FRANCIS S. McCAFFREY SAMUEL BIRENBACH KENNETH F. CHASE B.S.. M.D.. D.D.S. M.D.. D.D.S. B.S., DD.S. D.D.S. D.M.D. Assoc. Proi. of Dentistry Assoc. Prof, of Dentistry Assoc. Prof, of Dentistry Assist. Prof, of Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry J. L. McSWEEIIEY ALBIM R. SEIDEL F. A. STEWART, Jr. ROBERT NORTHROP D.D.S. D.M.D. A.B., D.D.S. D.D.S. Assistant in Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry

Page 19 text:

My House Is Bigger Than Your House THEODOR ROSEBURY, D.D.S., Assistant Professor of Bacteriology Certain dentists I know tell me that they have observed an attitude assumed how and then by occasional medical men — practitioners, teachers, or even students — which suggests with or without subtlety that dentists be- long to a somewhat lower order of living things than physicians. This would seem to be one of many human prejudices which stem from imponder- ables — tradition, dignity, respectability — and have their roots in the virtually universal human need to feel large in one ' s own eyes, and hence bigger, better or nobler than someone else. In a free space, apart from the vapor pressure of either profession, such a prejudice would spontaneously evap- orate; logically, that is, it comes quickly to nothing. Medicine is older than dentistry only in organization. Both professions trace back to a common calling whose end, the alleviation of suffering, was always laudable, but whose means were sometimes a shade less than respectable. Each now fills a place which society deems essential, in a world whose awareness of its needs is growing apace. Each is but a servant of that society, valuable in proportion only to its competence. From the viewpoint of the man in the street, of course, to distinguish in importance between a toothache and a bellyache is ridiculous. But, however illogical, the prejudice seems to be real, and it poses a delicate problem. It appears that certain physicians regard the dentist with more or less gentle contempt, through the lorgnette of a dowager ' s dignity, and by sundry acts of commission and omission teach their sons to do like- wise. And the dentist, reacting to a difficult situation, accepts the stigma with Christian modesty — and so confirms it — or rears up in hysterical denial — and so proves it. Human dignity is like a hobo ' s shack, leaning on any available support, built of whatever is at hand, crazy, insecure, but home and castle withal. Man ' s earth is the center of the universe, his kind the elect of God, himself the pivot around which all things revolve. Modestly he names himself the superior of all other animals, his world the only one, his nation the greatest, his race the purest, his city the best — and all others, being inferior in greater or less degree, are just to that degree contemptible. That every man feels the need to be king over a domain however limited bespeaks his essential frailty, and is pardonable. He wants to believe that he is of use to others besides himself; if he can manage it he wants to believe that the world needs him badly. He likes superlatives (such as medicine is the noblest of the professions ); but in a pinch comparatives will serve. So some physicians elevate their chins to dentists; dentists arch their eye- brows to veterinarians and pharmacists; all o f them are apt to feel nobler than lawyers; and lo! the poor accountant. There are any number of similar series, as witness mathematicians, physicists, chemists, biologists, psychologists; or, in a more limited field, ophthalmologists, oculists, optome- Fifteen