I was chatting to a friend of mine who owns a very successful dental business somewhere in England the other day. He was giving me his assessment of young dentists and the level that they should be at during different stages of their careers (which is quite at odds with my interpretation of the situation).
He told me that someone who is skilled at restorative dentistry, experienced at implant restorative dentistry, and able to do high-quality composite restoration build-up wear cases, etc., is about a three-year qualified clinician.
I don't think that's right, but it is the pressure that exists on guys who want to be high-grossing associates. The skills they have to acquire so quickly, the CV that they have to build within a space of months of qualification, exist in front of them, and so many of them do it. Many of the principals who are running practices who want those associates accept it.
I like to take a bit of a longer term view.
I think experience does well to steep overnight, over months, over the years, through reflection, review, and watching things come back; that's the type of stuff that makes you better.
And so, how do we plot a course to this when only the better will do?
When I first qualified in dentistry, the average general dental practitioner had a much lower skill set than that which they have now; many of them did it very brilliantly and took care of people in the best possible way, but it was a less frantic, less stressed and stretched environment, less worry about negative consequences or litigation or falling out with people; now the level of stress that we take on in terms of the work that we do seems enormously higher than it was 25 years ago.
When we moved on from that, everybody wanted to be an implant surgeon or a GDP orthodontist or an aesthetic dentist or all of these things and so how do we plot a course to get there to be good enough to get enough cases under our belts to know when not to do it, to know when to step back or to let someone else do it or to let the case leave your practice before you start (I saw one of those today).
The way we provide implant education is more slowly than that which was provided 25 years ago.
It settles in, steeps in, and is for the long term—it's not for next week; it's for the next 25 years.
The pinnacle of that education is our Year Three Implant Course, where clinicians look towards the provision of complex implant dentistry, which is, by its nature very complex.
The year three course is the most innovative piece of education that we've ever designed or provided here, and we are really keen on providing innovative education.
It's multifactorial learning in lots of different ways from lots of different people, including the people on the course, the educators, and the material that's online to review, compare, and digest to give you an insight into what can go wrong, the 100 different ways that things can be done, and how your style will impact complex implant dentistry.
It's a very close-knit, very personal course with tons of attention, tons of interaction, and world-class education from people who have been there and done it from different countries.
It starts in December.
I find it hard to believe that anyone who does that course would regret it, not just because of the education but also because of the overall experience, which is (as we are told by other people) very much like nothing else they've ever seen.
So, the dates for our 2025 edition are now live! You can see more information here!
If you want to have a conversation about how to bridge from advanced implant dentistry to complex and about how to spend a year with like-minded people getting towards that level, which will give you a lifetime value really beyond measuring, we'd love to hear from you if you think we are your type of people.
Blog Post Number - 3885