The idea of continual change is something the average dental professional will be entirely comfortable with. When registering with the General Dental Council you agree to do a set number of hours continual professional development, to make sure you are kept in touch with the advances taking place and the dentistry offered to your patients is as future-proof as possible.
As a history buff now working as an editor I prefer things to be a little more static. The Battle of Hastings was 1066, the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, and in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. These facts don’t change, once it is known it is known. Simple! It may be understandable then that when it comes to language I prefer the rules to be set and am slightly nervous about the development of words. I dislike the fact that ‘innit’ has made it to the dictionary. I’m still only just coming to terms with ‘ginormous’ which seems suspiciously like a mistake when writing ‘gigantic’ or ‘enormous’. At least the meanings of these words are clear though, other words have developed such that their meaning has been lost entirely. ‘Enormity’ is not just about size, ‘fantastic’ is not just a way of saying ‘good’ and don’t even get me started on the misuse of ‘literally’!
In this issue we put the spotlight (figuratively not literally) on vulnerable adults in the dental practice. I thought it would be very good (not fantastic) to source articles from some of the country’s leading charities that deal with this topic. My conversation with a representative of Mencap hit something of a snag when I was suggesting a discussion of some of the issues mentally handicapped patients encounter at a dental practice. I hadn’t grasped the apparent enormity (yes enormity) of my words. Apparently the term ‘mental handicap’ is now considered outdated and offensive – the politically correct term is a ‘learning disability’. This is completely different to the definition of learning disability I grew up with and just highlights the problems of language changing. Of course I meant no offence and apologised profusely for the faux pas (in my defence the charity is still called Mencap which seems a little odd).
Though communication in general is an important part of care, and language of particular importance to how you deal with patients, I actually started to think about the meaning of words because of another feature in this issue. New technology is something we cover every few months and I am always slightly surprised at the emphasis placed on the term ‘new’ rather than ‘technology’. Isn’t the second word the important one? Because we are so used to the theory of progression perhaps there is an ingrained sense that new is better, but is it? There’s an image of it being grumpy old men that yearn for the good old days and look at the past through rose tinted spectacles, however there are some instances where newer isn’t better. Would you rather listen to The Beatles or Justin Bieber? Would you rather watch Morecombe and Wise or the Chuckle Brothers? Would you rather drive a class E type Jaguar or a Smartcar? How about eating a traditional roast dinner or a microwave meal?
There is no offense meant to any Bieber loving Chuckle Brothers fans out there (for those of you who don’t know either of those acts – I envy you!) I am just highlighting the fact that new isn’t automatically better. Of course advances are continually being made and some of the latest equipment can improve the quality of dentistry you perform and bring genuine benefits to your patients. When looking to make purchases for the practice though remember if it is a case of efficacy versus newness, the former is always the priority.