Continuing Dental Education: A Thorough Dental Training Institute

Proper diagnosis and treatment planning requires an understanding of a patient’s masticatory system, including jaw joints, facial and temporal muscles, and teeth and gingival structures. Only by becoming masticatory physicians can dentists properly emphasize prevention and early detection and treatment of tooth diseases, tooth wear, and functional problems. Adhering to such a Concept of Complete Dentistry enables dentists to provide comprehensive dental care in a more individualized and conservative manner. Without question, this is what increasing numbers of savvy patients are not only requesting, but demanding.

According to directors of dental continuing education courses, such as William Yancy, DDS, from the UCLA School of Dentistry, who was quoted in the October 2006 issue of Inside Dentistry, dentists are faced with practicing at a time when the new materials and techniques constantly introduced are extremely important. As a result, according to Laura Neumann, DDS, MPH, associate executive director of the division of education for the American Dental Association, who also commented in the same publication, dentists have an obligation to update their knowledge and skills through on-going quality continuing education. However, experts in continuing dental education–including Gordon Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD, who commented in an article published in April 2008 about post-graduate education–suggest that it is not enough to attend programs offering instruction in only specific areas.

Rather, those-in-the-know believe that significant dental continuing education experiences incorporate a comprehensive curricula, one requiring attendance at lectures and hands-on courses every few weeks or months in order to improve your abilities to deliver the highest quality of care to the public. While some experts say that simple procedures can be learned without a hands-on component, others stress the importance of thorough training related to the mouth in an engaging format that encourages comprehension and competency.

Graduates of The Dawson Academy’s comprehensive curricula demonstrate skills beyond merely choosing advanced materials and applying innovative techniques. By training to thoroughly diagnose and solve myriad dental problems, they have become master diagnosticians who ensure their patients receive the comprehensive dental care they need. Additionally, mastership of the Concept of Complete Dentistry provides the foundation for skills in sequencing and segmenting treatment plans for affordability, thereby ensuring greater treatment acceptance and, subsequently, the best oral health of their patients.

It’s an indisputable fact that a quality and advanced dental continuing education program is a necessary–not optional–supplement to the instruction you receive in dental school. The enhanced and integrated training and skills development you can obtain in thoroughly diagnosing and solving dental problems sometimes cannot be taught in current four-year dental school environments, some experts believe.

However, when selecting a venue for continuing dental education, it’s important to ensure that instructors have been evaluated based on proven clinical outcomes, education, and teaching ability. In particular, they should teach what they do, and do what they teach, as well as demonstrate a “teacher’s heart”, a passion for the profession, and a desire to share what they have learned themselves.

The Dawson Academy philosophy of thoroughly diagnosing and solving dental problems is the cornerstone of the desired balance between work and life, fulfillment from the profession, and a successful dental office. Additionally, and most importantly, the comprehensive dental care such as the Complete Dentistry taught at the Dawson Academy results in more consistent, predictable, and healthy outcomes for patients.