The medical community on social media platform X has recently been stirred by a viral tweet, questioning whether or not dentists should be called doctors.

In a post made by X user Dr Bheekam Kurmi, he narrated a recent incident where a junior doctor and patient — a dentist, got into an argument over her qualifications when she came for a pelvic scan.

“Dentist and their obsession with the word “Doctor” is real…,” the X thread read.

The X thread by Dr Kurmi further explained that during the medical exam, the technician, a junior doctor, addressed the patient by her name when she responded by saying that she was also a doctor.

The interaction quickly turned sour when she was questioned about calling herself a doctor by the medical staff.

The post quickly caught the attention of many netizens, particularly within the medical community, sparking a wave of responses, both in support of and in opposition to the question.

Several people criticised the post, highlighting that it is rather common among the medical fraternity to look down upon dentists.

One such netizen, Dr Manjunath Hegde, wrote on the social media platform, “Bro, dentists are tooth doctors. They're practitioners of scientific medicine too. Let that sink in.”

Another user TheLiverDoc wrote, “Dental surgeons are doctors. In fact, some of my dental surgeon colleagues have specialized in highly sophisticated dental procedures that it is astonishing what they can do.”