The Journal of the American College of Dentists
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Bad outcomes occur in dentistry and sometimes these are the results of dental errors. In both cases, this essay will argue that apologies are very important in maintaining a relationship with the patient that is based on trust and mutual respect. ⋯ In particular, the dentist's fear that an apology will increase the risk of legal harm will be critiqued. Ethical and psychological reasons for making an apology will be discussed, and strategies to assist clinicians in making an apology will be offered.
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Reflection is thinking about practice, based on traces of recalled facts or data, with a view toward better understanding it. Reflection is prompted by discrepancies between what we observe and what we expect and commonly takes the forms of comparing personal experiences, reviewing events mentally, looking for trends in data, building new prototypes, and managing impressions. ⋯ The essence of reflection is finding a meaningful way to make tacit knowledge available in explicit form. Often this involves story telling, with its attendant features of plot, emotion, dramatic tension, and the success of the hero.
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The Navy Dental Corps is responsible for ensuring the readiness of America's sailors and marines and optimizing their oral health. This article traces the history from the 1912 Act of Congress authorizing thirty "assistant dental surgeons" as the first Navy Dental Corps through service around the world. Navy dentists have seen service in every war and action in the past ninety years, reaching a peak of seven thousand officers and eleven thousand technicians in World War II. The Navy Dental Corps has served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Beirut, Somalia, Haiti, 9/11, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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The dental mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs includes care, typically hospital care, developing an educated cadre of oral health care professionals, and research. Its innovations emphasize the local nature of care requirements, and it enjoys a tradition of partnering with other branches of the federal services, the American Dental Association, and education.