I understand that dentists are doctors by virtue of thier title, education and training. but are dentists also "physicians" ?

No: The time of training for a dentist is equivalent to that needed to be a physician, but a physician is a doctor of medicine, a dentist is a doctor of dental surgery (dds) or doctor of dental medicine (dmd), exactly the same degree.

No: Physicians have gone through medical school, whereas dentists go through dental school, and specialize in the oral cavity. Physicians leave the teeth and surrounding structures to the dentist and although there is crossover because everything is connected, they are not the same.

Bit of both: Dentists are trained as "physicians of the head and neck" and so everything above the collar bone is considered their area of expertise. In addition to the mechanics of fixing teeth, dentists are increasingly having to view the entire body as a whole due to the effects the oral conditions have on systemic health. In the same way, conditions like diabetes have serious effects on teeth and gums.

Normally not in U.S.: The DMD/DDS degrees are not medical degrees, but ,rather,dental degrees.Some Oral Surgery programs are "dual degree" programs in which the dentist earns a medical (MD) degree while earning their certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. These Dentists are also Physicians.There are some Dentists that go back to school to get their Medical Degree.In other countries Dentistry is part of Medicine

Dentists are not: physicians. Remember the statement "All physicians are doctors, but not all doctors are necessarily physicians".

Doctors: The title "Doctor" refers to level of education. A Doctor is trained in a specific discipline, whether that's Dentistry (DDS/DMD), Medicine/Physician (DO/MD), Psychology (PsyD/PhD), Optometry (OD), Podiatry (DPM), History (PhD), and all recognize educational achievement in that discipline. Dentists are not physicians, physicians are not dentists. And both health care disciplines have specialties.