The role of the dentist in genetic counseling

Professional and lay attitudes about the role of the dentist in the health sciences is changing perceptibly [16-18]. The view that the activities of the dentist are limited to manipulations of the teeth is being replaced by the view that the dentist is an important member of the health team. To be sure, medical colleagues may still ask why a dentist is in the nursery or elsewhere in the hospital and for the lay public may still ask what genetics has to do with dentistry or vice versa. But "the times, they are a-changing." There is an expanded responsibility for dentists in today's world and a significant part of that responsibility involves the provision of genetic services: diagnosis and counseling. There is no doubt in my mind that the following statement that I make to medical students and colleagues is as true for dentists as for physicians: the failure to provide genetic counseling when it is indicated is malpractice.