Send your letters to the Editor, British Dental Journal, 64 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8YS. bdj@bda.org. Priority will be given to letters less than 500 words long. Authors must sign the letter, which may be edited for reasons of space.
Sir, I have read with considerable interest the paper by Geddis-Regan and Walton titled 'A guide to treatment planning in complex older adults'. I thought that the subject was well argued, the examples apposite and the conclusions thought provoking.
Indeed it was everything that the BDJ does so well, with the exception of the title. I thought that the use of the term 'complex so closely linked to older adults' a touch pejorative!
I am one of those who might be an older adult, I have a complex and complicating medical history and I have numerous complexities, but I am not a complex person. Such sweeping categorisation can cause inadvertent offence when used in relation to patients.
A more appropriate title would be 'A guide to treatment planning for older adults with dental and medical complexities'.
References
Geddis-Regan A, Walton G . A guide to treatment planning in complex older adults. Br Dent J 2018; 225: 395–399. https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2018.742 (accessed on 22 October 2018)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morganstein, S. Dental and medical complexities: Generalisations over age. Br Dent J 225, 793–794 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.982
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2018.982
