The year 2023 was marked by numerous dark events that affected us all in one way or another. Wars and conflicts are multiplying around us, and innocent civilians are bearing the consequences.

Closer to home, our profession is also experiencing tensions. By reducing the reimbursement rate for our services by social security since October 15, 2023, policies are depriving many patients of necessary care, even as various medical conditions or surgical procedures require, among other things, good oral health. At a time when the national health strategy emphasizes prevention and equal access to care for everyone, this decrease in dental care reimbursement will create inequality not only in terms of healthcare but also in the ability of some to afford health insurance, as insurance companies have seized the opportunity to increase their rates. Furthermore, these “dental” procedures will be better reimbursed to the insured if performed by physicians who do not have the same training as dentists for common procedures or the same training as qualified specialists in oral surgery. This discrimination is also reflected in a difference in coding between dentists and medical doctors for the same procedure.

The national health insurance fund has recently sought to distinguish dentists from the medical world by assigning them a specific key letter “D” for dental consultations.

On our part, the dispute between a handful of maxillofacial surgeons and oral surgeons continues in 2024, hindering the positive evolution our specialty should experience.

We still have many points to defend. How wonderful it is to read Joël Ferri, rising above the fray, taking a stand to support the proposal of a dual-degree for specialists in oral and maxillofacial surgery. His editorial, published in JOMOS (number 2, 2023), is written with a great deal of common sense and its arguments can only garner unanimous support.

Dear friends, I can only wish you a year full of professional and personal projects for 2024.

© The authors, 2024