2021 – ACOLADE Newsletter

Mattel came out with Dentist Barbie in 1997, and according to the Barbie (and ADA) Facebook pages, “When Dentist Barbie put on her lab coat in 1997, 14% of dentists were women. Today, that number is up to 27%.”

I received a notice from my local health system with the heading “be kind.” Scripps Health in San Diego County is concerned that patients “be kind, be patient, be understanding.”

We want personalized medicine,
but pain patients are supposed to be
treated the same, with acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Dentists are discouraged from prescribing opiates.

The term “intergenerational equity” is common in policy advocates’ vocabulary. It is the idea of fairness between generations. To give an example, the dues of CDA Life Active Members was just
raised dramatically.