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Syeda Husein
Professor Adler
English 1A #32475
28 March 2015
Language of Teeth
The world of dentistry is filled with many terminologies and intellectual language that
one must learn. Being a part of a group of communicators who engage towards a common goal
or interest through participating in public discussions such as organizations or meetings is called
a discourse community. In order to become a member of a certain discourse community, one is
required to have a certain level of expertise in the common goal or profession. John Swales
defines the concept of discourse community with six characteristics: unanimous set of common
public goals; communication among the members; providing information and feedback through
communication; using and possessing one or more genres to reach towards common goal;
specific language; only members who are certified to provide expertise in the community. The
American Dental Association (ADA) meets the six characteristics, as ADA is the largest dental
association in the nation with thousands of members working towards the goal of improving oral
health.
In other words, the American Dental Association (ADA) is the definition of Swales
notion of a discourse community that he explains in his article, The Concept of Discourse
Community. For example, one of the six characteristics is to have common public goals among
the community. Swales claims, a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common
public goals. These public goals may be formally inscribed in documents (as is often the case
with associations and clubs) (471). The ADA strives towards inspiring changes in oral health

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by improving the developing technologies, diseases, procedure methods and also, providing
information for the public. They publish monthly issues of journal written by members of the
ADA. Another characteristic is that the member must have a certain level of expertise in order to
be a part of the community. Swales claims, a discourse community has a threshold level of
members with suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise survival of the
community depends on a reasonable ratio between novices and experts. The ADA is filled with
many members such as dentists, dental assistants, hygienists and various others. Some have been
members for years, while others recently joined but in order to keep the ADA functioning, the
members must communicate among each other to apprise as much knowledge as possible. There
are seminars and meetings that members attend to be updated on the latest developments. This
further proves that the American Dental Association (ADA) is a discourse community.
As a member of ADA, communication plays a crucial part. The lexis used within the
discourse community is different than how a dentist will communicate with their patient. There
are many terminologies and also, intellectual language, specializing in the discourse community
of ADA that one must learn. For example, a case report from the Journal of the American Dental
Association (JADA), states, a 44-year old woman with severe congenital factor VII deficiency
sought care for symptomatic, carious, and non restorable maxillary right second molar that
required extraction. Now, any dentist would be able to understand exactly what the diagnosis is.
However, the patient, or the outsider, would only understand that a 44-year old woman needs
extractions but they wont know exactly where or what. In result, the dentist will explain the
diagnosis to the patient in simple terms so itd be easy to understand.
On the other hand, JADA also released an article, Keeping Your Gums Healthy, which
was directed towards the general public. The lexis used in this article was so comprehensible that

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an outsider who is not a part of the ADA would clearly understand what theyre reading. For
example, the article states, gum disease affects the tissues that support your teeth, causing them
to pull away from the tooth. It can be limited to just the soft tissuethe gumsor it can progress
to the bone that supports your teeth. Anyone would be able to understand what is a gum disease
from this article but if this were an article that used the lexis that the members of the discourse
community uses, the term gum disease would be changed to periodontitis.
If one were able to get a copy of their dental record with the notes that dentists write after
each appointment, they wouldnt be able to understand what is written. After getting access to a
copy, one could clearly see dentists have a form of written language that outsiders wouldnt
understand. For example, a dental record states, missing #7localized periodontal disease #2326#31 restoration close to pulp, poss. pulpal pathologymax. premolars non-carious. When
one is reads that, they would have no clue what the report says. However, if one tries to analyze
what is written, itll become apparent that each of the teeth in ones mouth has a specific number
that it is referred to as. For example, the record mentions periodontal disease, which was
referred to as gum disease, in the article that JADA published, How to Keep Your Gums
Healthy.
As has been noted, lexis is an important part of the discourse community, especially as
being a member of the ADA. If one does not study and learn the language or how to
communicate in ways that dentists do, then one has no place in this discourse community.
Elizabeth Wardle, an author who wrote, Identity, Authority, & Learning to Write in New
Workplaces, believes, learning to write in and for new situations and workplaces is complex in
ways that go far beyond texts and cognitive abilities (551). She provided Alans experience of a
discourse community as an example to further prove her point. Wardle explained that Alan was a

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computer support specialist who did not learn or choose to write in ways that his humanities
department did which resulted in Alan having trouble communicating with others in the at work.
After continuously struggling, Alan decided to work somewhere else instead. If he had learned
how to communicate well in the beginning then he wouldnt have been struggling. Alans
experience is a lesson that shows that every one must learn the language and how to
communicate in order to be a part of the discourse community.
In order to learn more about the discourse community from an insiders perspective, Dr.
Jennifer Rojas was interviewed to give her insights in an exclusive interview. Dr. Rojas was
questioned about why she wanted to become a part of this discourse community and she states,
I grew up looking up to my father, who is also a dentist. As I got older, I realized that being a
dentist is actually an interesting and fun job so I started working at the practice more but
officially worked as a dentist when I finished dental school. Dr. Rojas was also questioned
about what kind of terms she uses as a dentist that others, such as patients, wont understand. She
claims, well, I have dental records of [patients] which includes all the procedures [theyve] have
gotten done here. For instance, we pulled [ones] tooth out and [one] were told that [their] baby
tooth was pulled out but the correct term for that tooth would be, deciduous tooth. Last but not
least, one would notice that dentists have rather small space to write each patients dental record
of each appointment so Dr. Rojas explained how to write as much details with as little words as
possible. She clarified, the forms do have small spaces to write but [dentists] use a lot of
abbreviation and shortcut while writing so we can save time. Otherwise, itll take you at least ten
minutes to write down everything using the proper words. Throughout the interview, one would
note that Dr. Rojas was asked questions in simple terms so that she could understand, rather than
using questions such as, what type of lexis do you use while communicating with others in your

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profession? For the same reason, vice versa, Dr. Rojas thoroughly explained each question with
terms that one who is not a part of the discourse community would understand.
There's a long process in order to become a dentist and member of the ADA. A lot of
knowledge must be retained. One would need to take as much science classes as they can,
especially Chemistry and Biology. After receiving Bachelors degree, one is required to go
through four years of dental school. In between schoolings, if one has background of working in
a dental practice, it would make them more qualified. If one wants to specialize in areas such as
orthodontics or surgeon, then they would be required to take at least two more years of
schooling. Within eight-ten years, one would officially become a dentist.
As I dug deeper into the concept of discourse community, I realized how much it actually
helped me learn more about the community I want to become a part of. Becoming a dentist is
automatically a ticket into becoming a member of the ADA. Even today, there are new
researches developing as ADA expands and strives towards their goal of improving oral health.
I can see myself becoming a part of this discourse community; being a member of the
American Dental Association (ADA). This type of field always interested me ever since I went
through with orthodontic procedure for a little more than two years. My teeth were horrible
before. I used to get bullied about having an overbite but braces changed my life. I would love to
make a difference in someone else's life, just like how the orthodontist Dr. Rojas referred me to,
changed my life around. During my appointments, I knew exactly what my orthodontist was
doing as she would explain why she was doing each step. It was then, I actually considered about
wanting to become a dentist. The fact that teeth can be straightened out is absolutely fascinating.
I know there's a big future out there for the world of dentistry and I'm aspiring to become a part
of this discourse community.

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