[General] Doctor, I needs a tooth filling.

[jasonree123456]

My filling has came out and I have to have another filling.

How to ask doctor correctly?
"Doctor, I needs a tooth filling."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Normally, "I lost a filling."

 

[Rover_KE]

'My filling has come out ...'

'Doctor, I need ...'

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, there would be no point asking your doctor for a filling. You need to ask your dentist!

 

[Tdol]

We don't call dentists Doctor in the UK, and I would use lost a filling too.

 

[Jill Dorchester]

In the US dentists are addressed as "doctor" (thank goodness; gives me a sense of security when a Doctor is sticking point objects in my mouth versus just an average person :-D ). But you would still say as recommended above, "I've lost a filling" or "I think my filling fell out last night. Can't imagine how that happened, all I was doing was chewing on a caramel..."

 

[Tdol]

What do you call surgeons in the US?

 

[MikeNewYork]

We call them "Doctor". In the US, a physician of any type is a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). Their training is pretty much identical. A dentist is a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS). A veterinarian is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or VMD (awarded only by the University of Pennsylvania. They are all addressed as "Doctor". And there are some others.

 

[Tdol]

In the UK, they've moved to a higher level so go back to Mr/Mrs/Ms.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, a "standard" dentist is not addressed using anything except their name. A GP (General Practitioner) is referred to as "Doctor". A surgeon of a certain level is referred to as "Mister".

So a man can go from being Mr Smith (office manager, for example) to Dr Smith (having undergone a change of career and become a GP) and then back to Mr Smith (having undergone further training and become a surgeon).

 

[MikeNewYork]

That seems very strange to me. Here, one's titles usually progress and don't go backwards. Another oddity for me is that veterinarians in the UK are called "veterinary surgeons". Most, however, are not specialists in surgery. To be called a veterinary surgeon in the US, requires Board Certification in surgery, as would be true for an internist, oncologist, ophthalmologist, etc.

 

[Tdol]

That seems very strange to me.

It is bizarre.

 

[Jill Dorchester]

In the UK, a "standard" dentist is not addressed using anything except their name.

What about a specialty dentist, like an endodontist or periodontist?

(More than one movie plot has involved some sort of medical emergency mid-flight on an airplane - like a pregnant woman going into labor or someone having a heart attack - and the flight crew will check the manifest and announce "There's a Dr. Jones in seat 4B! Let's hope he's not a dentist!" as they rush to fetch him.) :lol:

 

[Raymott]

It is bizarre.

The calling of surgeons "Mister" goes back to days when surgeons were people skilled at taking off a leg in the shortest possible time - the days of the barber surgeons. They were not trained as doctors. In their time, they thought they were superior to doctors who, frankly, couldn't do much useful then.
"In 1950, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) in London began to offer surgeons a formal status via RCS membership. The title Mister became a badge of honour." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon
I can see their point, especially these days when everyone else seems to be called simply Peter or Justin or Mary.

 

[emsr2d2]

What about a specialty dentist, like an endodontist or periodontist?

(More than one movie plot has involved some sort of medical emergency mid-flight on an airplane - like a pregnant woman going into labor or someone having a heart attack - and the flight crew will check the manifest and announce "There's a Dr. Jones in seat 4B! Let's hope he's not a dentist!" as they rush to fetch him.) :lol:

My orthodontist, a very talented, very accomplished man with hundreds(!) of letters after his name, is referred to as Mr Kirschen.

Your joke wouldn't work in BrE, I don't think. Dr Jones just wouldn't be a dentist!

 

[Jill Dorchester]

My orthodontist, a very talented, very accomplished man with hundreds(!) of letters after his name, is referred to as Mr Kirschen.

This is all very illuminating, thanks for the information! I guess as an American I'm surprised that in England, where there are so many titles like Lord and Lady and Duke and Sir and Queen and Jack ( < -- deck of cards joke), I expected that someone who has a medical degree of any type would be referred to by a title as well ("Doctor"). Then again, the President of the United States is referred to by the honorific "Mr." and not some exalted title......but darn it, he doesn't have a medical degree! :turn-l: (As you can see, this conversation has my head spinning.....)

 

[MikeNewYork]

Jill, once when I was on an overnight flight to Austria, I was just nodding off when a call came over the PA system for a doctor. I did not respond at first. Then came a second call, I pressed my call button and a stewardess came to me quickly. She said "Are you a doctor?" I said "Yes but don't get excited. I am a veterinarian". She said "You're all we have". I went up to business class with her and saw an unconscious man on the floor who was gray and had a weak pulse rate of about 40. His wife was there. I asked her if he had a history of heart disease. He did. I asked her if he was on any medication. He was on nitroglycerin. I asked her if he took one. She said he did. I asked her how old the pills were. She said they were old. I asked her if she had any fresh pills. She did. We placed a new one under his tongue and I put him on oxygen. Within just a few minutes his pulse rate was 80 and he was coming to. I asked what hes name was and he told me. I asked him where he was from. He said North Carolina. Then I asked him who won the World Series. (It was mid-September.) He said they haven't played the World Series yet. Then I said, "You will be just fine". We got him up in a seat and talked the rest of the night. I imagine the flight crew is still talking about that one. ;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

Did he jump up and lick your face in gratitude? [wink]

 

[MikeNewYork]

LOL! Pretty much. And the flight attendants filled my carry-on with CDs, alcohol bottles, and other things.

 

[Tdol]

This is all very illuminating, thanks for the information! I guess as an American I'm surprised that in England, where there are so many titles like Lord and Lady and Duke and Sir and Queen and Jack ( < -- deck of cards joke), I expected that someone who has a medical degree of any type would be referred to by a title as well ("Doctor").

To be fair, it's probably a lot less painful to become a surgeon than to become a royal mistress.