Deeper meanings

One word that always made me feel the hairs stand on the back of my neck during university was iatrogenesis. If this word cropped up it would usually mean that a ‘fail’ would be appearing in my log-book very shortly after. Iatrogenesis stems from the Greek Iatros meaning ‘healer’ or ‘medical’ and genesis meaning ‘creation’. It is interesting to consider the proportion of the average general dentist’s workload that is correcting ‘healer’ created damage. For example, the damage a simple, inadequate contact point can do due to food-packing is considerable and tragic; often this occurs in patients with otherwise good oral health and hygiene. When one is confronted by lesions such as these, it is not hard to feel guilty. Somewhere over the hundreds and thousands of fillings placed in one’s professional life it is inevitable that each and every practitioner has their own stack of iatrogenic mishaps related to this issue of food-packing. But it isn’t just a problem with poor contacts, in every field there are bound to be some issues. Whether it is implants placed into ID canals or perforations in endodontics, no-one is left out; everyone gets to be part of this club. One would hope that we all do far more good for our patients than the harm that iatrogenesis might cause. If these iatrogenic mishaps are managed well, unpleasant fallout can usually be avoided. Even in these most litigious of times, most patients are not looking to turn to the courts in the first instance, so there is usually much scope in which to mend bridges (if you will pardon the pun).