No matter how long you’ve been practising, get ready for exciting times ahead
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 7th November 2021
We’re now nearing the end of 2021, a year that has been about resetting, regrouping and forging ahead with a renewed sense of purpose after the disruption of the past 18 months.
What will 2022 bring? Hopefully it will be more settled for all of us, in every aspect, but there will be challenges, too. Most of these were present long before the pandemic – the problem of access to services and of treating a growing ageing population, for example – but have been exacerbated, with emerging trends accelerated.
The dental community must work together to find solutions that will enable as many people as possible to enjoy a lifetime of good oral health. Practices will have to look at how they are structured, if they haven’t already, to ensure that professionals are doing the bits of dentistry that are appropriate for them and not treatments that can be delivered by others in the team. This might require a shift in thinking, perhaps from patients who feel anxious about not receiving treatment from the actual dentist, but this is simply about who is qualified to do the work, and who is not.
An exciting time to qualify
If you have welcomed a new DCP at your practice, they will have entered the profession at an exciting time. In fact, the next decade could be interesting in terms of an expanding, dynamic workforce; this year, the government expanded its cap on dentistry and medical degree course places.[i] Applications for these courses were up in 2021 by 20%, and thousands more students will now have the opportunity embark on a rewarding career to support a healthier future for the nation.
But in dentistry, learning is lifelong. Perhaps your career pathway was set at university, or maybe you only found your area(s) of interest once you started working. Patients, as well as colleagues, will always be a rich source of education. No matter how long you have been practising, there is always something new to discover from them.
A successful practice will have created a culture where ongoing personal and professional development is encouraged. Quality training can be accessed at every stage of a dental professional’s career, whether you are new on the scene or have years of experience behind you. Being able to offer an expanded treatment list will keep the business thriving, bringing in valuable revenue streams, attracting patients and reducing the need to refer out. It will also keep the whole team motivated and allow your practice to improve oral health outcomes in the community.
Ready for the future
Ensuring that you are ready for a more patient-focussed future must be one of your goals for 2022. Whether you’re a new or not-so-new dentist, is it time to look at more training? If your practice does not offer implant treatments, this is one area where we can expect to see greater demand, so accessing quality education in these therapies would be a smart move.
Learning how to place and restore implants in your own practice will not only increase your all-round skill set but will boost confidence in your general dentistry. It will help you become better at treatment planning and problem solving – transferable skills for working with all patients, of any age. Quality implant courses will also cover topics like digital workflows. If you haven’t “gone digital” yet, this is another area that is accelerating at a fast pace and becoming more mainstream, so it is crucial to get on board and get involved. Digital dentistry is far more than just imaging, it improves diagnostics and communication between teams, practices and laboratories as well as with patients. It can help you do more in less time and it’s more environmentally friendly too. In short, there are fewer reasons than ever not to digitise.
For quality training, The One to One Implant Education is an accredited PG Diploma In Implant Dentistry. You will be taught by some of the most renowned and experienced instructors in the industry. Combining live surgery, mentoring, theory and hands-on teaching, the programme covers everything from planning to occlusion, surgical techniques, guided bone regeneration, restorative procedures and digital. Embark on training with The One to One Implant Education and you will build the pillars that will allow you to establish gold-standard protocols in your work. You will expand your professional network and find a mentor too, who will continue to guide and advise you long after the course is complete.
This is a time for positivity. Dentistry is a challenging, yet intensely rewarding profession when you adapt the mindset of lifelong learning and that there is always a way to do more, and to do it even better. Education and training are how you can stay motivated, as well as improve standards of oral health. Make this commitment for the year ahead and however long you’ve been practising, you’ll take your career to even greater heights.
Dr Fazeela Khan-Osborne is the founding clinician of the FACE dental implant multi-disciplinary team for the One To One Dental Clinic based on Harley Street, London. She has always had a passion and special interest in implant dentistry, particularly in surgical and restorative full arch rehabilitation of the maxilla. She has been involved in developing treatment modalities for peri-implantitis within clinical practice.
Dr Khan-Osborne is also the Founding Course Lead for the One To One Education Programme, now in its 20thyear. As a former Lead Tutor on the Diploma in Implant Dentistry course at the Royal College of Surgeons (England), she lectures worldwide on implant dentistry and is an active full member of the Association of Dental Implantology, the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry and the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.
To reserve your place or to find out more, call 020 7486 0000 or visit
https://121implanteducation.co.uk
[i] Extra places on medical and dentistry courses for 2021. Gov.uk, 5 August 2021. Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-places-on-medical-and-dentistry-courses-for-2021 (accessed August 2021).
