How many of the procedures learned in dental school are you still using today? Whether you graduated 30, 20, 10, or even two years ago, chances are that your techniques and materials are vastly different. While school provides the basic foundations and theoretical concepts for many of the disciplines in dentistry, it is in publications and through continuing education that the practitioner stays current and effective.
Dentistry is in the midst of rapid change, and the pace of innovation is increasing. Treatment procedures have become more comprehensive, with earlier diagnosis, more efficient early interception, and more predictable therapeutic modalities. The range of clinical activities that are the responsibility and the privilege of the profession is widening. The active practitioner’s time is very precious and must be focused upon evaluating, and then acquiring those skills, which will have the greatest positive impact on the patients as well as the practice. Adding a novel procedure to the clinical roster not only expands the services that can be offered to current patients but increases the pool of potential patients who can benefit by attending the practice.
Who among our patients would have thought that their friendly neighborhood dentist could improve their golf game through performance mouthwear? Or create a magical and removable improvement in their smile with no tooth preparation? Or offer techniques that relax anxious patients and improve their treatment experience, their surgical comfort, and their recovery process? These are all patient-friendly and popular treatment modalities that contribute, among other benefits, to growing the practice.
Improved clinical materials that can be more rapidly deployed assist in saving valuable chairside minutes for the practitioner; after all, clinical time is the most valuable (and often the only) commodity that the dentist has to offer. Replacing ancient vacuum equipment with more efficient, more effective and less expensive, newer technology impacts the bottom line directly.
The solution to the problem of loosened or chipped implant-borne crowns and bridges that must be removed for repair and reseating is the set screw. This long-established engineering principle, used in construction, manufacturing, and health disciplines, has been transplanted to dental applications. The set screw makes cement-free implant restorations a reality.
It is an essential part of dentists’ lifelong commitment to improve the quality of their services, to make these treatments better as innovative technologies and materials permit. Patient comfort and the fiscal realities of dental practice require both chairside efficiency and effectiveness to make procedures faster without compromising quality and results. The stresses that impact the dentist and the dental team members on a daily basis are considerable; any material, technological, or clinical development that can make life easier and more pleasant will be beneficial not only for those delivering the service but for those receiving it as well.
Active dental research and development, and the transfer of the resulting information through publications and continuing education, drive the profession through the introduction of novel ideas and approaches, making the practice of dentistry better, faster, and easier.OH
