To be clear I agree that as a matter of policy dentistry and optometry should be treated the same as everything else. There is no historical or policy-based excuse for untreated tooth decay in developed economies.
Dentistry is the earliest specialization of medicine and the first to be studied with modern scientific rigor - dental problems are universal in agricultural societies, and it's much easier to see what's going on without modern tech. So its separation from other branches of medicine is a natural historical accident. (Likewise with early optometrists being "applied opticians" vs early ophthalmologists guessing about the biology of the eye.)
The fact that minor dental treatments are physically invasive compared to other branches of medicine means that dental training will always be different from other physicians, and this naturally extends to professional organizations. But it shouldn't extend to insurance companies.
Dentistry is the earliest specialization of medicine and the first to be studied with modern scientific rigor - dental problems are universal in agricultural societies, and it's much easier to see what's going on without modern tech. So its separation from other branches of medicine is a natural historical accident. (Likewise with early optometrists being "applied opticians" vs early ophthalmologists guessing about the biology of the eye.)
The fact that minor dental treatments are physically invasive compared to other branches of medicine means that dental training will always be different from other physicians, and this naturally extends to professional organizations. But it shouldn't extend to insurance companies.