For a more motivated future, is it time to go back to school?
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 5th November 2022
Research has shown that the more specific and challenging a goal is, the more effort you will put into achieving it.[i] If you’re just a few years out of dental school, your professional goals may be less coherent than they were as a student. Perhaps a treatment area you had been interested in inspires you less in ‘real’ practice life, or you have realised it is not the path to take, if you want to help as many patients as comprehensively as possible.
We know that there are currently issues with both recruitment and retention, particularly among new dentists who are wondering if clinical dentistry is really where they want to be. Another perspective on this is that there now exists an opportunity to make your skills more competitive, to stand out from the rest.
If you make a decision to embark on extra training, or even specialise, sooner rather than later, you could open the door to a fulfilling career that also offers freedom, along with a host of other benefits, including financial ones. Giving yourself an achievable goal now will keep you motivated and could help you perform better in your everyday practice. You will feel safe in the knowledge that you are ready to offer the quality, complex treatments that modern patients want and need, to stay in good oral health.
Time to get going
So, if you’re thinking about becoming an endodontic dentist or specialist, for example, don’t delay! What you learn via postgraduate training, will improve your treatment planning, also your ability to communicate effectively so patients understand your diagnosis and will say “yes”. Train to be an endodontist and you will become more proficient at assessing the specific concerns of every individual, and their unique barriers to care, including cost and phobia. You will develop deeper empathy, and learn to stay calm under pressure. You’ll also become a better clinician in your own right, and also as a team player. A great endodontic dentist is always supported by talented, professional colleagues to ensure that, for every patient, the experience is comfortable, safe, efficient and successful.
In every area of your practise, your confidence will improve. The knowledge you gain will not just enable you to save teeth from extraction, but will also give you access to novel and innovative tools and materials. Your transferable, practical skills will be combined with the latest, evidence-based research – again, all this will make you a better all-round dentist.
Life-changing treatment everyday
Losing teeth can have a profound impact on someone, emotionally, socially and physically. To be able to offer an alternative is intensely rewarding – life-changing, in some cases. The trend for more endo, and particularly more retreatments, is testimony that if there is a predictable Plan B to extraction, people will take it. As an endodontic dentist, you will also be required to diagnose where the pain is coming from, which may not actually be pulpitis. A patient will be delighted to be told they don’t need root canal therapy after all! Either way, you will be the one to recommend a solution, and if a root canal is required, you can reassure them that you are the right person to deliver it, due to your training along with the tools, materials and technology you use. You will be able to encourage acceptance and informed consent, by telling patients you’re supported by a team who will be there throughout the whole process.
Commit to the goal of becoming an endodontic dentist, and you will open the door to lifelong learning. Although the treatment sequence is fairly structured, manufacturers are constantly pushing back boundaries and launching new products on to the market that enable clinicians to do things better. This is not an area of dentistry that is standing still. The past few years have seen developments including the launch of a combined motor/apex locator that can digitally navigate through the root canal, also files that offer flexibility, reliability and value in one system, in order that preparation be easy even if canals are narrow and curved. These files can reduce the risk of ledging, transportation and perforation.
With such personal and professional rewards on offer, there really is no time like the present to focus, and set an endodontist goal. The hard work required to complete postgraduate training will keep you challenged and motivated, as well as giving you crucial skills in another area. You can take this mindset back to practice to help more patients and inspire the team, always thinking about how to do more and do it better, while sharing your knowledge.
For more on COLTENE, visit www.coltene.com,
email info.uk@coltene.com or call 0800 254 5115.
[i] Locke, Edwin & Latham, Gary. (1991). A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance. The Academy of Management Review. 16. 10.2307/258875.
