Editor's Message: Becoming an Inclusive Specialty

Dear ACOMS members,

As we approach the presidential election, diversity, equity, and inclusion have been cast even more in the spotlight than usual. As a microcosm of society, dentistry and oral surgery have made significant strides in diversity over the past few decades. We can all agree that there has been increased representation of women and underrepresented minorities, but what advances have we made to be more inclusive?

First off, what is the distinction? Diversity means being comprised of different elements, whereas inclusivity means ensuring differing opinions are respected and valued. Diversity can be accounted for with statistics and facts; inclusivity is a cultural phenomenon. As a surgical specialty that upholds tradition and hierarchies, how can we strive to be more inclusive?

This past July, I attended my annual state society meeting in beautiful Aspen, Colorado. Though the location of this meeting changes every year, it is always at a golf resort. In fact, the didactic portion of the meeting is Saturday morning, so that the golf scramble can begin after lunch. Every year, the society struggles to have enough participants for this activity. This was finally discussed at the business portion of the meeting. Of the almost 100 present members, only six golfed. Faced with a decision between tradition and practicality, we took a vote. Interestingly, more than six surgeons voted to keep the golf component, though they didn’t even partake! Ultimately, upholding the golf tournament was vetoed. We live in a beautiful state with a multitude of activities to choose from; why not a group hike or brewery tour or whitewater rafting or cooking class? Are we seeing fewer and fewer members attend due to this no longer being a representative fun outing? By eliminating the need for the venue to be a golf resort, we can choose from many other options that may be more appealing.

Though this may seem like a trivial example, the psychology of it is informative. At what point can we progress from tradition? Would we see increased attendance with a different meeting format? Would this, in turn, result in an improved representation of our association? I suppose I’ll have to update you next summer!

As surgeons, we are committed to lifelong learning. We are constantly learning new techniques and must decide if we want to use new materials, hardware, and medications. Discerning between doing what we have always done versus an improvement can be challenging, and one must risk trying in order to know the difference.

The same can be true for approaching the soft skills of patient care. I challenge you to consider your current approaches and recognize the potential for subconscious bias. Can we all make minor changes to our phrasing or communication to be more empathetic? Will this improve the surgeon-patient relationship and increase case acceptance or outcomes due to better understanding? As the end of 2024 draws closer and thus comes a natural time of reflection, consider how you and your practice can be more accommodating both to patients as well as each other.

Lauren E. Basile, DMD